Bears Rule Out Jaylon Johnson for Vikings Game
Rookie cornerback Jaylon Johnson will miss Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings due to a shoulder injury suffered last week when he helped stop Deshaun Watson at the 1-yard line.
Johnson was downgraded Sunday from questionable to out for the game, along with safety Deon Bush. A foot injury had kept Bush from practicing all week and he had also been questionable. Johnson also missed every practice this week.
The Bears already were going to be without slot cornerback Buster Skrine for the second straight week. He's in the concussion protocol.
As a result, they could be starting rookie Kindle Vildor for Johnson and second-year cornerback Duke Shelley for the missing defensive backs. Both played last week, Shelley starting at nickel cornerback and Vildor filling in after Johnson was injured.
Defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano didn't seem worried about the possibility of playing Vildor and Shelley again.
"Kindle's a pit bull," Pagano said. "Both those guys are. They're young, hungry, scrappy, highly competitive football players. They're twitchy, they can run, they've got good feet. Ball skills, instincts. They know the game.
"If both of them have to play significant amount of time again, they'll go out and play really really hard and they'll compete. There will be a mistake, like all the guys make mistakes. But we don't worry about that. We just move onto the next play. So I'm proud of both those guys."
The Bears also elevated defensive back Xavier Crawford from the practice squad for the game.
Players aren't the only ones missing for the Bears secondary. Coach Matt Nagy on Friday had said defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend would not be making the trip for personal reasons, not related to COVID-19.
In addition, the team announced linebacker Manti Te'o had been restored to the practice squad from the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Defensive lineman LaCale London had been moved off the COVID list on Friday.
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