Remember how great Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson was in 2023 and 2024 when he was a Pro Bowler both season? Yeah it feels like a long time ago since then.
Johnson was supposed to use the 2026 season to remind everyone that he is still one of the premier cornerbacks in the NFL. That's clearly no longer the case, and it has been that way since Week 1.
During the Bears' 31-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 5, Johnson finished with four tackles and one pass deflection. Trust me, those stats don't show how bad he was in this game.
Jaylon Johnson got exposed once again in the Bears-Packers game
Simply put, Johnson couldn't cover Matthew Golden or Christian Watson throughout the game. Together, Golden and Watson caught 12 passes for 266 yards, and Watson caught two touchdowns.
Chicago gave up four 40+ yard plays in the game, the most since 2000. Some of them were on Johnson.
One play in particular saw Golden completely burn Johnson in coverage, then catch it while turning his body and jumping to make the grab. That was a pretty common theme for Johnson throughout the game: getting burned nearly every time.
Do the Bears have to replace Jaylon Johnson at outside cornerback?
This season, Johnson has an overall Pro Football Focus grade of 49.2, ranking 87th among 103 cornerbacks. His coverage grade is even worse: 45.5, which ranks 91st among NFL cornerbacks. He's allowing a passer rating of 118.8 and 16.7 yards per reception.
There's no getting around it: Johnson is not good. Not only that, but he's become a liability in coverage. The only thing he's been half decent at is run support. That's it.
Where does this leave the Bears? Unfortunately, if anyone wants Johnson benched, that's not going to happen.
First off, Tyrique Stevenson might be playing worse than Johnson at outside corner, so he's the one who should be replaced before Johnson. Stevenson suffered an injury in the Packers game, so we don't know if he'll miss any time.
A simple solution at cornerback for now would be to start Malik Muhammad, no matter what. Muhammad is allowing a passer rating of 41.9, ranking fifth among NFL cornerbacks. He's got an interception and a sack this year.
Muhammad may not be the perfect cornerback since he is a fourth-round rookie, but he's better than anyone else they have right now. It might be best to make him the CB1 and Johnson the CB2 until a more permanent solution emerges.
Bears general manager Ryan Poles may have no choice but to trade for a cornerback if they are serious about a Super Bowl in 2026. Johnson and Stevenson cannot continue to be the starters on this team.
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Johnson had a nice run, but the soft-tissue injury from last year clearly affected him in a negative way. The Bears have to do something to fix this issue or it could cost them the season.
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