One thing Chicago Bears fans have learned to appreciate about Jaylon Johnson over the years, aside from his talent, is his honesty. The cornerback has never been afraid to be frank with his comments, regarding both himself and the team. If anything, it’s his greatest strength. It certainly did the organization a big favor. Many feel it was his post-game locker room crash-out in 2024 that got head coach Matt Eberflus fired. For the first time in years, Johnson looks like he’s in a good place, both mentally and physically.
His body has recovered from the brutal groin and core injuries he suffered last year, robbing him of half the season. On top of that, the Bears are finally good. Don’t forget, Johnson spent the first four seasons of his career playing on bad teams. Last season marked the first in his NFL career with a winning record. He acknowledged on Saturday that much of that is thanks to quarterback Caleb Williams. It was then that Johnson uttered a somewhat controversial phrase.
“It’s the best offense I’ve seen in my 7 years. Caleb’s the best QB I’ve had since maybe Nick Foles, if you want to go back that far. He’s doing his thing. You can see the accuracy…the confidence.”
Jaylon Johnson just outed himself a little bit.
For those who remember, the cornerback was one of the more outspoken players two years ago who didn’t want the Bears to draft Caleb Williams. He preferred the team keep Justin Fields, seeing as the team had gone 7-10 the previous year, which was an improvement from 2022. Now here Johnson is stating that not only was Fields not the best quarterback he played with before Williams, but it also wasn’t the other 1st round pick he played with, Mitch Trubisky. It was Nick Foles, who started only eight games for the Bears, going 3-5 with 11 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Perhaps what stood out to Jaylon Johnson about Foles was his command of the line of scrimmage. He was never afraid to change plays at the line, telling wide receivers what to do. He was fearless when attacking defenses. You could argue he was trapped in a bad offense under former head coach Matt Nagy. Maybe in different circumstances, he would’ve been more successful. Either way, this is a pretty glaring statement by Johnson about his true feelings on the Trubisky and Fields debates.
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One can only imagine what Johnson wanted to say.
If it took him this long for his real feelings to surface, just think what might’ve happened if he had less self-control. Jalen Ramsey probably would’ve blasted both quarterbacks at the first opportunity. Still, it’s another reminder that you shouldn’t always trust what a player says in front of the cameras. It doesn’t always reflect their true feelings. Johnson’s defense of fields was probably just him trying to be a good teammate on the off chance the Bears did end up keeping him. He didn’t want to risk looking like he hoped for a change.
Things ended up working out. Chicago got Williams, who now looks on the cusp of becoming a true franchise quarterback. Johnson has endured watching other players have the privilege for years. He must be ecstatic that it’s finally happening for him. If he can put together one of his best seasons, and Williams keeps ascending, there is a real possibility that the Bears can make a run at the Super Bowl this season.
