Getting into the mind of a professional athlete is never easy. Most of them prefer to keep the media at arm’s length. They don’t want to reveal too much of their personality to the masses. That is normal. While they might play a highly-televised game, it doesn’t mean they lack a desire for privacy. Jaylon Johnson is no different. The Chicago Bears cornerback isn’t afraid to do interviews, but he doesn’t come across as overly vocal. He is most interested in doing his job and being the best possible player he can be.
As it turns out, Johnson talks way more than you think. We got an inside look at this during the game against Green Bay last week. The cornerback was talking throughout the contest. He’d chirp at Packers players in between plays and never wasted an opportunity to hype up his teammates. However, the most enlightening moments came before kickoff. Cameras followed him during warmups, and it was amazing how much the cornerback talked to himself, constantly saying motivational things that got him pumped up. It was a window into how he thinks.
Jaylon Johnson is positioning himself for a contract extension.
The young cornerback may not be overly productive on the stat sheet, but there is no denying he’s the best cornerback the Bears have. It’s not even close, to be honest. GM Ryan Poles has said he wants to develop and extend homegrown talent. He tried to do that with Roquan Smith, but the linebacker’s demands made it impossible. Securing Johnson would be a nice victory for this new regime. It would give the defense some much-needed long-term stability in this early rebuild.
Where it gets interesting is the money. Cornerbacks are expensive. Jaylon Johnson will obviously want to land the biggest deal possible. He has some decent leverage in some aspects. At the same time, his lack of production or Pro Bowl nods will limit how high he can go. It will be interesting to see how stubborn he is about this. Having an agent, unlike Smith, might make the process smoother. Either way, one hopes he sticks around. He’s proving to be a good player.
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Really tired of all the hater rants screaming for turnovers from JJ. It shows their complete lack of the game. JJ is a top DB in the league, not just the best DB on the Bears. When offenses try to avoid throwing to your side, a non-existent pass-rush, and still holding some of the very best WRs in the NFL to zero impact in games. There are many DBs who have a lot of INTs. but they give up TDs at extremely higher rate, so how the hell are they to be considered shut down corners better than JJ. JJ… Read more »
The fact he doesn’t get thrown on a lot says a lot about what opposing offenses know about Jaylon Johnson. He is the best Bears DB, fortunately Kyler Gordon can learn from him and continue to improve his game as well. Johnson elevates the defense which is something that is much needed with this young team, he is a leader on this D. The young guys played extremely well holding Rodgers under 200 yards. Let’s hope they can hold up half as well in the next four games.
Johnson is an ok NFL DB. Anointing him the best of the Bears corners… says either a lot or nothing being that the Bears corners SUCK and he hasn’t been much better. So being the shiniest turd on the pile still makes him a turd. Losing Eddie Jackson and zero pass rush makes his job that much harder too. Look for the Eagles and Bills to feast on the Bears secondary including Johnson.
Turnover’s are the end all be all of playing DB. They earn probowl votes and millions of $ at contract time but… they really don’t tell how vested a guy is in doing a GOOD job. Frankly I don’t want him to be a BLOW hard, big mouth… ‘all about me’ type. (see Jaylon Ramsey. FORCED his way outta Jacksonville… with his contract demands and “faked injuries”). no thanks! I’m GLAD he doesn’t have 20 INTs (and give up 40 TD passes)… and want 10 ba-zillion dollars. I think he’s a good foundational player. When!! we get some better pass… Read more »
Maybe he can motivate himself some turnovers since he only has 1 int on his career so far