Bears rookie finally said what nobody in Chicago was willing to say about Jaylon Johnson — and he’s absolutely right
Chicago Bears veteran cornerback Jaylon Johnson has struggled all season long and currently ranks among the worst players at his position. Finally, someone called him out for his play and it was an unlikely teammate that stepped up to send the message.
The Chicago Bears have been on a tear defensively this season and things really picked up to another gear on Monday night with the arrival of All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons. Dennis Allen has created a fearsome group on defense, but one spot is still a concern.
Ahead of the Nov. 10 trade deadline, the Bears are still hunting for another defensive swing, this time at the cornerback position. The reason why is because the play of Jaylon Johnson and Tyrique Stevenson has been far below that of a starting-caliber outside cornerback.
Something needs to change and so far, no one was willing to call either player out for their performance this season. That finally changed on Thursday.
Malik Muhammad II finally sends a message to Jaylon Johnson that he needed to hear
During the locker room access after Thursday’s practice, Devan Kaney of FOX spoke with Bears rookie cornerback Malik Muhammad II and asked him about Johnson’s up-and-down season. His answer was pretty revealing.
“He always stays with a positive mindset and he’s always asking questions. He’s always seeing how he can get better,” Muhammad said. “But man, people don’t know the cornerback position is super hard. And I’m not giving him an out or anything. He knows he’s got to play better, we all know he gotta play better. But man, the position is hard itself… But he knows he’s gotta get better, he’s been in this league for a long time.”
The “cornerback is a hard position” excuse is fine to use describing a rookie that forced into a starting role. But, for a former Pro Bowl player in Year 7, that’s no longer an excuse. Injuries is no longer an excuse for Jaylon Johnson as well. He is the second-highest paid player on this defense and playing like a rookie. And it took a rookie to finally call him out.
When asked about Johnson’s performance last week, head coach Ben Johnson decided not to fully hold him accountable for his struggles this season.
“There’s been some ups and some downs, and so just like everybody we’re evaluating at the end of each game, winning performance versus losing performance,” Johnson said.
Also last week, general manager Ryan Poles was asked about Johnson’s struggles and pointed to how the addition of Simmons could help out those guys in the secondary instead of holding one of his highest-paid players accountable.
“I think there’s been ups and downs and they’re trying to find their way. But I do think when you add someone like Jeffery, you make a huge impact for them too,” Poles said.
After Monday’s game with Simmons on the field, safety Coby Bryant was in the locker room talking about how the secondary heard the talk from the reporters and the media about the unit. Well, it wasn’t the entire secondary people were talking about, it was two players in Johnson and Stevenson, that have repeatedly struggled every single week.
Oh, and by the way, Johnson and Stevenson got cooked in that game. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had them on skates before halftime, even with Simmons out there playing. Someone finally needed to say something to hold those two accountable, especially Johnson because he’s supposed to be one of your best defensive players.
The numbers speak for itself
No matter which way you chalk it up and which database you use, the numbers speak for itself. Johnson is one of the worst cornerbacks in the National Football League right now. Let’s take a look at some of those numbers across different databases among all CBs with 25+ coverage snaps this season.
| Reception Percentage | Yards Allowed | Passer Rating Allowed | |
| PFF | 73.1 | 332 (3rd-most) | 115.1 |
| SIS | 61.3 | 387 (Most) | 105.2 |
| NGS | 68.5 | 437 (3rd-most) | 119.6 |
The reason the numbers are different – because I know people are going to ask – is because it’s hard to know for sure on some plays who was responsible in coverage. Which is why I looked at PFF, SIS, and NGS. All three show that Johnson is struggling, bad. And these are just his coverage stats.
PFF also has Johnson credited with seven missed tackles this season and a PFF defensive grade of 38.1, which is the ninth-worst among CBs with 25+ defensive snaps.
He deserves to be called out for this kind of performance. My problem is that it took a fourth-round rookie to finally be the one to do it. The coaches and general manager need to be the ones holding him accountable, not his teammates and especially not a rookie. There’s no up and down performance from him, there’s far too many downs.
