Bear Digest

Jaylon Johnson Wins Respect with Second Straight Pro Bowl Berth

Jaylon Johnson wasn't high on his chances to be in the Pro Bowl but when the NFC team was announced he was the only Bears player on it.

Gene Chamberlain

Jaylon Johnson goes up for the game-clinching interception in the fourth quarter during a 24-17 win over Tennessee in the opener.
Jaylon Johnson goes up for the game-clinching interception in the fourth quarter during a 24-17 win over Tennessee in the opener. / David Banks-Imagn Images
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Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson lacked the overall statistics he had last year and the fan vote.

It didn't matter.

Johnson has been named to the Pro Bowl Games as the only Bears representative, his second straight Pro Bowl. Not only is he on the team, but was designated an NFC starter.

He hadn't sounded too positive about it on Wednesday at Halas Hall.

"I'm always hopeful, yeah, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it don't work out," Johnson said.

He felt his reputation scared off quarterbacks from throwing his way and it worked against building up stats.

"It's been solid," he said. "It's hard with limited targets. I'm looking at the whole body of work. It's hard to make plays on the ball when you barely get targeted.

"Just with that itself, that's what gets you the Pro Bowl votes: making plays, having those interceptions and numbers and things like that. But I feel like overall I played solid. Definitely could’ve done some things better, but I did a lot of good, too."

Johnson, who received a $76 million contract extension this year, was drafted by former Bears GM Ryan Pace in Round 2 of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Johnson has two interceptions one year after making four. He has seven pass defenses after making 10 last year.

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One thing that could have weighed greatly in his favor is his aggressiveness stopping screen passes and stopping the run. This season Johnson has seven tackles for loss. He never had more than one in any other season. He has a career-high 48 tackles.

According to Stathead/Pro Football Reference, Johnson has a 90.3 passer rating against when targeted and has allowed 65.4% completions. Last year, he had a 50.9 passer rating against and allowed 55.2% completions.

Johnson also has been entirely healthy this year for the first time. He missed three games in 2020, two in 2021, six in 2022 and three in 2023.

Johnson also has displayed leadership to an even greater level than in the past. Even on Wednesday during a lost season, he was rallying the troops against the Packers.

"(Expletive) 'em," he said of the Packers. "That's how I'm feeling. I'm going to try to go out with a bang. It's the last opponent on the schedule so I'm looking forward to it."

He pointed out how they won't play again until next year.

"Yeah, for sure. It’s going to be a long time coming before we get another opportunity to play, so we’ve got to make the most of it,” he said.

As for teammates: "We're all on the same page."

Pro Football Focus grades him high, though maybe not in Pro Bowl range. He is 16th among cornerbacks after he had been in the top three throughout much of 2023. Until last year, they had never ranked him higher than 92nd at the end of a season.

The other NFC starter at cornerback is Vikings cornerback Byron Murphy. The backups are Carolina's Jaycee Horn and Seattle's Devon Witherspoon.

PFF would argue players like Philadelphia's Cooper DeJean (graded third), Arizona's Garrett Williams and the Giants' Andru Phillips (eighth) might have been more deserving based on their grades.

There is no actual Pro Bowl game anymore. Instead a series of skill competitions and a flag football game are held Jan. 30-Feb. 2.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.