Inexperience Starting to Show for Cornerback

Analysis: Jaylon Johnson's candid criticism of teammates reflects both a losing situation with the team and the cornerback's own lack of experience.

Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson already had displayed an ability to speak his mind after the loss to Green Bay when he talked about how the Packers made adjustments by moving Davante Adams around the formation more in the second half to get their star receiver open.

Matt Nagy disputed this the next day and said they hadn't done much different than they did in the first half.

Now Johnson is calling out players rather than a defensive coordinator's inability to match opponents' schemes.

On the Barstool Sports podcast, Johnson made an appearance talking about a charitable Christmas event he has coming up, then shed light on the morale of the Bears locker room. He painted a picture that sounds closer to the chaotic end of the Marc Trestman era than it does to the unified gutsy effort coaches and other players have insisted they see each week.

Johnson was simply asked if he saw signs of some players "going in the tank."

"I mean you have a little bit of both," Johnson said. "You have the side of the locker room that is starting to go into the tank and you have the guys that are still trying to fight and figure out how we can get better. I mean, at the end of the day, that's the name of the game is trying to get better each and every week and then just being able to put four quarters of football together. It's not about one quarter being good at some times and at moments, but really being able to figure out how we can be good for four quarters and find ways to win football games.

"But, I mean, you definitely have the ups and downs in the locker room as expected but just being able to keep as many guys as we can together and keep fighting for wins."

Johnson hasn't been around the NFL long and is experiencing his first losing NFL season.

While his candor when speaking about the situation in the locker room is definitely  appreciated by media, fans and social media people, it probably reflects his inexperience more than anything because there are teammates who won't enjoy hearing he said this.

The other side of pointing fingers is the old native American saying: "Every time you point a finger in scorn there are three remaining fingers pointing right back at you."

It wasn't too long ago when Johnson's own hustle was being scrutinized.

During the week after the loss to Arizona, Johnson was asked why he didn't hustle and make a hit on Kyler Murray as he scored a touchdown.

"I mean, yeah, things are happening fast," Johnson said then. "Things are going fast. In the moment, it's a split decision and I didn't think I was able to stop him from getting into the end zone. I feel like if I did, you don't know what can go on. Honestly just for me, it was just a split-second decision and that was the decision I made. Looking back at it, of course I could say, 'Yeah I could've hit him' or, 'Next time I'm gonna hit him,' but that's easy to say moving forward. But in the moment, I didn't think that was the best decision."

It was a perfectly fine explanation but perhaps some of those he's pointing fingers at in the locker room now could have said the same about him in this situation.

Johnson has had a decent season and the Bears have saddled him with a nearly impossible burden, considering the current pass coverage rules in the NFL favoring offenses. 

They make him cover the opponent's best receiver each week and no doubt he'll be trying to cover Justin Jefferson on Monday night. 

The reason they need to do this isn't because he is an All-Pro cornerback. He's good but not Jalen Ramsey. They do it because general manager Ryan Pace failed to supply the proper cornerback talent this year to make playing their scheme straight up possible.

Johnson has done a respectable job, anyway. He's ranked 45th by Pro Football Focus out of 120 cornerbacks graded this year and if given the chance to play his position honestly he might even make another interception. He has only one career interception, the only interception by a Bears cornerback this season and one of only two the cornerbacks have made the last two seasons.

However, another old saying applies here and that is the old "with great power comes great responsibility."

Accusing teammates publicly on a sinking ship of giving up is failing as a leader for a team. Doing it within a locker room setting is totally different. 

In one instance, you're manning up and keeping it square with teammates by talking to them face to face about situations. In the other instance, you're back-stabbing players who have to be teammates for at least the rest of this season.

And when names aren't named, then it casts doubt on everyone.

The next time Johnson doesn't hit a quarterback who has scrambled for a touchdown in front of him, he should probably anticipate a teammate ripping him publicly.

Johnson has already proven he has taken the next step as a player on the field. He still has lessons to learn within the framework of the team.

He's looked like an experienced cornerback on the field since the day he arrived in Chicago, but still shows inexperience at other important aspects of being an NFL player let alone a leader.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven