Bears finally put a firm timeline on Jaylon Johnson’s return and it will give the defense a major boost toward a playoff push
The Chicago Bears had a lengthy injury report this week leading up to Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings but all signs are looking trendy up for the team’s overall injury situation.On Friday before heading out to practice, head coach Ben Johnson dropped the biggest injury update regarding Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson and his […]
The Chicago Bears had a lengthy injury report this week leading up to Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings but all signs are looking trendy up for the team’s overall injury situation.
On Friday before heading out to practice, head coach Ben Johnson dropped the biggest injury update regarding Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson and his eventual return this season.
Bears will open the 21-day practice window for CB Jaylon Johnson
The Bears will be opening the 21-day practice window for Johnson on Friday, allowing him to hit the practice field and start working his way back onto game shape. Johnson has been out of action since Week 2 after undergoing core muscle surgery to repair an injured groin.
By December 4th, the Bears will have to activate Johnson to the active roster or leave him on the injured reserve for the remainder of the season. Considering how the team handled the return dates of DE Austin Booker and LB Amen Ogbongbemiga, the Bears will likely utilize the full extent of that practice window to make sure Johnson is fully ready to go before putting him back in action.
That means the Week 14 matchup on December 7th with the Green Bay Packers is the likely target date for Johnson’s return to help bring a major boost for the defense at a critical time for the final five game stretch to make a late playoff push.
“We’ll see how long it’ll take to get him back in shape, but I think he’s in a good spot right now,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson said on Friday. “I think being out on the grass is going to be a good thing for him.”
Johnson’s injury had actually been affecting him well before Week 2 and forced him to miss all of training camp. After being able to get on the field against the Detroit Lions, Johnson injured another area of his groin, prompting him to undergo surgery that placed him on the injured reserve.
“He wants to be out there with his guys,” Coach Johnson added. “This year has not gone the way he really envisioned it. You come in and it happens during the summer, the initial, and you miss training camp. Then you’re hopeful you’re back to where you were before and you get hurt in the first game back. I think he really just wants to be out there. He’s worked his tail off to get to this point and it’s on us as coaches to put him in a good spot here going forward to get him ready to compete.”
Johnson, or the team’s head coach, never offered a firm timeline for when he could return but the expectation was that the team’s top cornerback would likely return late in the season as long as the team stayed in playoff contention. At 6-3, the Bears now have a more clear timeline.
“I just saw Jaylon in the weight room. He seems like he’s excited about where he is right now, and he’s hopeful that he’s going to be able to be out on the practice field in the near future,” the Bears head coach told reporters on Wednesday.
As for nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon, he’s eligible to have his 21-day practice window opened after Week 11 and the hope was always that Gordon’s injury recovery would be on the shorter-end of the four game absence. This is massive news for the secondary that’s shown some liabilities at the cornerback position this season.
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Nothing is going to keep him off the field on Sunday.
