Amid the many storylines of training camp, Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson has not been out there with his teammates. Johnson has been on the NFI list to begin camp with a leg injury.
At first, it was expected that Johnson would miss a few weeks. It wasn't thought to be of any serious nature. Yet, when Ben Johnson spoke to the media before Thursday's practice, the tables seemed to take a turn.
"I think there's a scenario where he'll be ready for Week 1. That's really the target date," Johnson told the media.
Well, then. On one hand, you could certainly take that as a positive ... unless you have been paying attention.
The latest Jaylon Johnson update sounds much worse than what the Bears have led on
To this point, there hadn't been a lot of worry when it came to Johnson's status for Week 1. It wasn't even really a thought that he would miss any portion of the regular season.
But, the way coach Johnson approached the situation Thursday morning made it sound like there is definitely a possibility the shutdown corner misses the season opener against the Minnesota Vikings.
Bears fans have long been used to this type of mystery when it comes to injuries. No matter the coach, over the past decade or so, we've seen several instances where injuries are kept quiet or made out to be fairly ambiguous in nature.
Then, when the bad news finally and officially breaks, fans get upset -- and rightfully so.
With Johnson's Week 1 status very much in doubt, that would leave the Bears without their top corner to defend the likes of Justin Jefferson. It would put a significant damper on the tone of this offseason should Johnson be unavailable to play.
Week 1 is a big game, and it's in prime time. If he cannot play, then Chicago will be depending on players such as Tyrique Stevenson, Terell Smith, rookie Zah Frazier or even Nahshon Wright to work together in stopping Jefferson. Maybe Dennis Allen even experiments a bit more with Kyler Gordon as he's been doing in camp, because Jefferson is a problem.
Not to mention, Jordan Addison is no slouch.
The Vikings will be a much bigger problem for the Bears if Johnson cannot play, and fans' frustration will be just as bad as it ever has been if this turns out to be a situation where the team has been withholding pertinent information.