In the wake of the rare simultaneous injuries to its top three running backs, head coach Jason Garett and the Dallas Cowboys are reportedly going to start undrafted free agent rookie Gus Johnson in their opening preseason game on Thursday night against the San Diego Chargers at the Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

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The Cowboys official website indicated that Johnson, who was a tryout player and was just signed by the team before training camp started last week, will seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to show his wares to his coach while the trio of Joseph Randle, Darren McFadden, and Lance Dunbar - the upper echelon of Dallas' backfield - were still in recovery.

"Every time I think about it, it's still just incredible to me that I found my way here," the Stephen F. Austin product said in a recent phone interview. "I'm kind of expecting to get those guys their rest. The coaches know what they can do. I'm a rookie, so they need to find out what I can do."

The 22-year-old Johnson, who just celebrated his birthday on Monday, the day he substituted Randle for first team reps during practice, was reportedly ecstatic about the chance to start against the Chargers in San Diego and he had looked "solid as a runner and pass protector" as of late.

Garett approved of Johnson's starting prospect and it actually looked like it would be the only chance he will get as the trio is expected to return to practice after the game against the Chargers.

"We had limited numbers at that position (before camp) and we wanted to make sure that we had guys come in, both in the offseason and certainly in a couple of different situations and work themselves out if we needed to sign a couple guys," said Garrett. "So we went ahead and did that during the offseason, got some looks at Gus and he did a good job. He's done a good job up to this point in training camp."

SB Nation suggested that Johnson was an underrated running back during this year's draft and he has the potential to be the Cowboys' secondary runner after Randle if McFadden's injury would not make him available this season.

Star quarterback Tony Romo is also reportedly satisfied with starting Johnson, as per the NFL's official website. Romo had been seeing Johnson's potential during the team's last two practice sessions and he was said to be happy about it, saying that the rookie "has got a chance."

TagsNFL, NFL 2015, NFL news, NFL News 2015, NFL rumors, NFL Rumors 2015, Jason Garrett, Gus Johnson, Dallas Cowboys, Tony Romo