“Bears Coach Delivers Major Injury Update on Star Pro Bowl Defender”
Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson has been dealing with a leg injury over the summer, which led to his placement on the NFI list and created uncertainty about his availability for the season opener.
On Tuesday, however, head coach Ben Johnson shared encouraging news, stating that Johnson is expected to make the final 53-man roster. This move would allow the Pro Bowl defender to return to practice and give him a strong chance of suiting up in Week 1.
“That’s been the goal date, but we’ll see,” Ben Johnson said, via Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Had Jaylon Johnson stayed on the NFI list, league rules would have sidelined him for the first four games of the season. Fortunately for the Bears, his recovery has progressed well enough to avoid that setback.
Johnson has now earned two consecutive Pro Bowl selections and is coming off a standout 2024 season, where he suited up for every game in his career for the first time. Over that campaign, he tallied 53 tackles, two interceptions, one forced fumble, and eight pass breakups, cementing himself as one of Chicago’s defensive leaders.
At 26 years old, Johnson’s journey has been impressive. A product of the University of Utah, he was taken by Chicago in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. Early on, he flew under the radar as one of the league’s more underrated cornerbacks. The biggest knock against him was his struggle to stay on the field. But whenever he was healthy, his impact was undeniable—so much so that the Bears rewarded him with a four-year, $76 million contract extension in March 2024.
That deal came on the heels of Johnson’s first Pro Bowl selection and a Second-Team All-Pro nod, a season in which he posted 36 tackles, four interceptions, and 10 pass breakups.
Elsewhere around the league, Titans quarterback Cam Ward recently spoke openly about Shedeur Sanders, adding more buzz to the upcoming season.
For Chicago, Johnson remains a cornerstone of the defense, and considering the uncertainty surrounding the depth at cornerback behind him, losing him for the first month would have been a major setback.