‘It’s typical Jaylon Johnson’ — How the Bears cornerback is heating back up at the right time and can be the X-factor needed for the playoffs
He’s working his way back to an elite level.
The Chicago Bears got a massive boost back in Week 13 when Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson made his long-awaited return from the injured reserve, although in a limited fashion.
Regardless, it was great to see #1 back in action and working his way back on the field for the first time since Week 2, when he reaggravated a groin injury that required core muscle surgery to repair.
In each of the three games since returning, and during the week leading up to it, the Bears have been smart about how they’ve handled Johnson’s workload.
“You gotta tear through scar tissue and things like that,” Johnson explained. “When you’re doing that in your groin, core, abdomen, I feel like it stops you from doing and playing at the elite, absolute best. The snap count is really helping me ease back into it and slowly adding that stress to my body to be able to take it. I am assuming I will be better. God willing, having no setbacks and feeling good. Continue to stack weeks.”
Jaylon Johnson’s impact play in Week 15 showed he’s getting closer to fully returning
During Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns, Johnson played just 23 defensive snaps, his fewest in a game since returning from injury. But, it’s worth noting Tyrique Stevenson was back in action and after Sunday the Bears have a quick turnaround before facing the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night.
While it was limited action again, Johnson made one of the highlight plays of the game when he pried the football away from Browns wide receiver Jerry Jeudy in the end zone, result in a takeaway that initially confused everyone watching at Soldier Field.
“I had no idea what happened,” linebacker T.J. Edwards said via ChicagoBears.com. “I was kind of jogging off, and then all of a sudden, he had the ball and was walking to the camera. Just cool to see him make a play. And it’s typical Jaylon Johnson.”
After the game, Johnson told Stacey Dales that he saw Sanders and Jeudy talking before the play and figured the ball was coming his way, three plays after giving up 47-yards against Isaiah Bond. Knowing what was coming, it just came down to making a play when the ball came his direction.
“I mean, really just playing the ball through [Jeudy’s] eyes and not really panicking at all, just understanding where the ball was gonna come,” Johnson said, “And then it happened to fall right into my hand. So just held on and stayed in bounds.”
Those two targets were the only two times Johnson was tested by Sanders, returning to his typical role as a lock down player considering he played 14 coverage snaps. And even the 47-yard completion allowed to Bond wasn’t necessarily Johnson’s fault but he still managed to run Bond down.
“Even a play like that, you’ve just got to keep playing,” Johnson said, via Brad Biggs. “Things like that happen all the time, especially in the coverage. If they catch you in a zero (pressure) and they throw the ball across the field, there’s really not too much you can do outside of be in for the race. You know who that is, that’s a tough race. He beat me to the ball.”
Moral of the story, Johnson was back to making plays and locking receivers down again on Sunday in a way that only he and few others are capable of doing. It was an encouraging sign in another day of limited work that he’s heating up at the right time.
Jaylon Johnson is inching closer to elite form as a defensive X-factor
The Bears have three games remaining in the regular season with matchups against the Packers, San Francisco 49ers, and Detroit Lions left on the schedule. There’s a clear path toward locking up a playoff spot this weekend but still plenty left to fight for before the end of the regular season.
If the Bears want to make some real noise in the playoffs, they’ll need an X-factor on the defensive side of the ball and Johnson has the ability to be that guy if he’s off the leash by that point.
“I think he’s getting closer and closer each and every week,” Bears’ defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said of Johnson on Thursday. “When you think about a guy that really hadn’t played a lot of football basically in about a year, it takes a little bit of time to get back to where you need to be. He’s working extremely hard to do that.”
Sunday was just a taste of what he can bring to this defense and he’s only going to get better the more reps he gets back under his belt in the coming weeks ahead.
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