Ben Johnson breaks down the obvious concern in signing C.J. Gardner-Johnson and explains why things could be different in Chicago
There’s some risk and reward involved in the Chicago Bears’ latest roster addition.
The Chicago Bears made an out-of-the-norm signing on Wednesday when the team announced the addition of defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
Given his reputation on and off the field, it’s not a signing normally expected out of Bears general manager Ryan Poles, and it speaks more to the influence head coach Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen have on the state of the roster.
Regardless, the Bears added an experienced player to the secondary that brings a lot of fire to the table and it came at the right time.
Ben Johnson speaks on the addition of C.J. Gardner-Johnson and all that he brings to the locker room
“As you can tell, we’ve had some injuries over the course of the last few weeks,” Johnson explained to reporters on Wednesday. “We have an opportunity and he was available. He’s a good football player, there’s a number of us that have been with him in the past. It’s a good fit.”
The main injury tied with this signing was the decision to place nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon on the injured reserve last Saturday, knocking him out for at least three more games. Gardner-Johnson has ample experience starting in that role and has history playing under Allen’s system.
“We’ll lock him in on one spot and have him learn the defense,” Johnson said of Gardner-Johnson’s role. “Obviously, he’s been with (Dennis Allen). He should have some familiarity but he’s also bounced around to a few other systems over the last few years. We’ll see how quickly it comes back to him and whether he’ll be ready to go this week or not.”
There’s an interesting detail in there that’s important. The idea that Gardner-Johnson’s bounced around a few other systems. This year alone, Gardner-Johnson has now been a part of four different teams and quality of play isn’t the reason he’s been bouncing around.
As mentioned before, Gardner-Johnson is a fiery competitor, something that needs to be handled correctly. With the Philadelphia Eagles last season, Gardner-Johnson had some issues with the coaching staff and teammates. The same issues followed him to the Houston Texans after being traded back in March, leading to his release after three games this season.
It’s something Johnson is aware of when it comes to this new addition to the locker room but also something he believes the team is prepared to handle.
“We’ve got a very strong locker room. We got a positive veteran influence in there, I feel very strongly about that group and nothing’s more important than our locker room,” Johnson added. “That’s certainly first and foremost with any decision we make of who we bring in or who we let go. I think we’re all aware of how important that is and the fit that he has with that locker room.”
With a player like Gardner-Johnson, keeping him focused on playing football and playing for his teammates is important. Other teams realized that and when it goes south, teams have recently held onto him with a short leash. Chicago shouldn’t be any different.
The team’s head coach reiterated that Gordon’s injury isn’t expected to be long-term and hopes to get him back on the field within the next four weeks. Gardner-Johnson is expected to fill that role until then and we’ll see how things adapt once Gordon is back in the fold.
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