Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson is expected to miss most of training camp due to a leg injury, per ESPN’s Courtney Cronin.
Johnson was placed on the non-football injury list when veterans reported to Chicago for camp. He suffered the injury during offseason training, according to Bears general manager Ryan Poles.
Johnson is coming off his second consecutive Pro Bowl and is headed into the second year of a four-year, $76 million deal signed last year. He has dealt with a number of injuries over his career, playing no more than 15 games in a season over the first four years of his career. In 2024, he played a full season for the first time, starting all 17 games with a career-high 1,032 snaps.
An extended absence into the regular season would force Chicago to find another starting cornerback among their veteran depth, but Poles said that the team is not “overly concerned” about a long-term injury.
“We’ve got a lot of faith that he’s going to put in the time to rehab and be his full self when he comes back,” said Poles on Tuesday.
2023 fifth-rounder Terell Smith will likely step into a first-team role in Johnson’s absence. Chicago largely relied on a cornerback trio of Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson, and Kyler Gordon last year; Smith is the only remaining defensive back on the roster who played at least 150 snaps on the boundary for the Bears in 2024, according to Pro Football Focus (subscripton required).
Offseason signings Nick McCloud and Tre Flowers may also see a bump in reps over the coming weeks as Johnson rehabs his leg with his eyes on returning for the Bears’ Week 1 opener against the Vikings.
“We’ve got a lot of faith that he’s going to put in the time to rehab and be his full self when he comes back,”
Faith and $76MM gets you a cup of coffee at Starbucks 🙂
He’s already hinting he’s not enamored with his deal that he just signed so he might be a future problem. Maybe he gets moved in the off season. He could bring a decent return and with good planning could be a money saving move. Just saying that’s not a headache Johnson needs right now. And if the defense looks good without him………who knows?
All those names aren’t the names that are replacing him. Nashon Wright has been doing just fine according to the Bears writers and players. And the article kind of shows how deep they are at that position. Might be a deal coming at the end of camp. Zah Frazier hasn’t even practiced yet but looked good in the OTA’s and rookie camp.
Only a delusional Bears fan would say this and then use sports radio to justify their claims.
Bears 17th in pass defense last year while down on the scoreboard in most games with Johnson playing. Article implies they got weaker at the position losing Stevenson and Gordon. Neither Flowers or Wright has had an interception since 2022, and McCloud has 1 career interception in 2023. Wright was active for one game in 2024, Flowers was active for 5 games and neither recorded a single statistic. McCloud was active for 15 games between two teams last year and defended exactly one pass. No one drafts a fifth rounder expecting them to start immediately.
Maybe just turn the volume down on the nonsense knob a bit. When your probowl corner goes down, and you are below average in coverage with him and better players, it’s a bad thing.
Maybe learn how to read. Exactly when did the Bears lose Gordon and Stevenson? Enlighten me oh stupid one! And talent wasn’t the Bears problem. The Coaches were. I’ll wit and see the games before I listen to a troll.
Going to another disappointing year for the Bears. Their fans just don’t learn….the roster is not very good.
Where is their roster not good? Do tell!
Haters have to spew.
My prediction is 6-11 and no playoffs. That was my prediction last season. Came close against the 5-12. Not really a knock on Johnson or the new coaching staff at all. Just recognizing it a whole new offense and defensive scheme. It’s going to take time and that schedule looks pretty darn tough at face value.
Not sure why this article doesn’t mention Nashon Wright…