Over his first three NFL seasons, many Chicago Bears fans surely would've labeled cornerback Jaylon Johnson as an underachiever. To some degree, with 31 pass breakups and just one interception, the joke about "he would have been a wide receiver if he could catch the ball" applied.
In 2023, Johnson reached another level. He had four interceptions with 10 pass breakups, while allowing a 50.9 passer rating in his coverage. Pro Football Focus was also highly complementary of his work, grading him out as its No. 1 cornerback that season.
The Bears rewarded Johnson with a four-year, $76 million contract extension with $51.4 million guaranteed after that breakthrough.
The 2024 campaign wasn't quite as good for Johnson, but he earned a second straight Pro Bowl nod and PFF graded him out as a top-15 cornerback. He also played all 17 games for the first time in his career.
Last season just never got on track for Johnson. He missed all of training camp and the preseason due to a groin injury that was specifically revealed to be a torn adductor muscle. He attempted a return in Week 2, but aggravated the injury and he missed the next nine games after undergoing core muscle surgery.
Johnson returned to action in Week 13, but he was clearly not himself. An offseason to rest and get healthy would naturally benefit him.
Jaylon Johnson is ready to take back his place in the NFL's CB hierarchy
On recent episode of the "CHGO Chicago Bears Podcast", Mark Carman devoted a segment to Johnson and he also welcomed Lou Canellis of NBC 5 for an interview segment.
Canellis caught up with Johnson during a football camp he was running at a local high school. He said he's "not even 100 percent" but he's "getting there." That was a red flag for Carman, since it's been close to a year since he first suffered his injury.
Johnson tore an adductor muscle off his pelvic bone (go ahead and read that again). Recovery from that kind of thing is a process. He probably should have not returned to action late last season, and if there were other viable cornerback options for the Bears, maybe he wouldn't have. If nothing else, that return to action delayed the timeline for a full recovery.
His level of involvement during training camp will be worth noting, but a quote Johnson gave Cannelis should be what sticks out more than any real concern about his health right now.
"I’m just looking forward to this season and really just reminding a lot of people who I am and I’m one of the best guys to play this game," Johnson said. "So I’m just looking forward to that opportunity.”
Read more: Caleb Williams' "Iceman" trademark has been denied (but not for why you think)
When he's healthy, Johnson has shown he can be a shutdown corner and the Bears need him to be that. As long as his recovery process from the major injury that derailed last season reaches the end without setbacks before Week 1, nothing else matters.
Add us as a preferred source on Google