Does it seem like Jaylon Johnson has been a member of the Chicago Bears for a long time? He was drafted by Ryan Pace for Matt Nagy’s team. He has had six different defensive coordinators in his career. He was a Bear for the duration of the Justin Fields era, then changed his jersey number from 33 to 1 after Fields left. Speaking of quarterbacks, he’s watched as 10 different QBs have thrown a pass for the Bears. He also has two Pro Bowl nods and has made a 2nd Team All-Pro.
Last season, his play suffered
as he battled through a groin injury and core muscle surgery, which held him to only 9 total games (including the playoffs). Only three of those contests saw him play over 80% of the defensive snaps as the Bears rotated him at corner to keep him fresh.
Watching him play in 2025 felt like his glory years were behind him, but did you realize he just turned 27 a couple of months ago? He’s in his athletic prime, and if he’s healthy, he’ll make a huge difference.
At his Wednesday press conference, head coach Ben Johnson was asked if Jaylon had recovered from the injuries and was looking like his old self.
“I don’t know that I ever saw ‘himself’ so it’s hard for me to gauge that, particularly this time of year,” Johnson said. “But I think he had a good day yesterday out there. He’s been able to stack a few of those throughout the OTAs. I think his mind is probably getting more confident in terms of the movements he’s making. So yeah, he’s a vital part of what we want to do. You know he’s been a Pro Bowl-caliber player in the past, and hopefully we can get that out of him again this year.”
Yesterday, Jaylon had a nice practice with a couple of interceptions in the team portion, and today, he got a shout-out for a pass breakup on a long throw for Rome Odunze from Caleb Williams.
Do you think Jaylon Johnson can return to the Pro Bowl form he showed just two years ago?
