The 2024 calendar year has already been kind to Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson.
A second-round pick in the 2021 draft, Johnson has worked his way to Pro Bowl and All-Pro status. He has also been through several iterations of the Bears, including 2023’s bunch that also had a lot of confidence following a busy offseason. They lost to the Green Bay Packers 38-20.
This year, the Bears were arguably even busier, switching quarterbacks, adding two new wide receivers, and shoring up the interior offensive line.
So, how does this group avoid the Week 1 pitfalls last year’s group suffered?
Jaylon Johnson ‘Done Buying Into Hype’ Around Bears
Bears CB Jaylon Johnson: ‘We Got to Go to Work’
“I’m done buying into the hype, honestly,” Johnson told Clocker Sports during his media availability after Monday’s practice. “I’ve had pretty good rosters, plenty talented people in the locker room. Sometimes where [it’s], ‘Oh yeah, this is our year. This is our year.’ So everything that we got in this locker room, it sounds good. It seems good. I’ve seen it.
“At the end of the day, none of that matters. What matters is what we going to do this weekend and from every Sunday or Monday — whatever game it is. That’s when it matters. So the preseason hype, for me, don’t move me either. Caleb [Williams] and everybody, we all got to come in here, we got to work. Just top to bottom. Myself, new contract year, that don’t mean nothing no more. We got to come in here, we got to go to work.”
Johnson inked a four-year, $76 million contract extension in March, just ahead of becoming an unrestricted free agent. He remained confident that he would land the type of deal he sought, though he did request a trade from the Bears in October 2023.
Since then, Johnson has earned Second-Team All-Pro honors — with an eye on First Team in 2024 — and welcomed a new addition to his family.
What is left, though, is a winning season.
The Bears have won eight games, three games, six games, and seven games since Johnson entered the league. They made the playoffs in his rookie season as a Wild Card and kept hope alive deep into the 2023 campaign.
Johnson said that his mentality is “total dominance” on the field, adding that he does not need to see targets in his direction to know he has a receiver covered.
Wide receiver DJ Moore remarked that Johnson has been on a different level in camp too.
DJ Moore on Caleb Williams & Captaincy
Moore was a supporter of former Bears QB Justin Fields and has said he was sticking by his guy as rumors surrounded the latter. Moore was asked about Williams assuming a leadership role so early in the offseason.
“I don’t think he was looking for anybody to get behind him and follow his lead. I think he let it just come naturally,” Moore told reporters on Monday. “Once he got comfortable — it took him a while to get comfortable and start opening up and being who he truly was because he had he did have to go through learning the offense, learning everybody, learning different things. And once he did that, everybody just started gravitating to him. And he’s a captain now.”
Tight end Cole Kmet commended Williams’ coming in and learning to follow before asserting himself as a leader.
The Bears have empowered him to do so, with Williams unchallenged as the team’s QB1.
Moore, a first-round pick by the Carolina Panthers, said that he was not surprised by Williams’ being voted a team captain. He did admit, however, that he was surprised to be named a captain in his first season with the Bears.
“I was confused too,” Moore said. “Because in Carolina I wasn’t a captain. But I get here I’m automatically a captain the first year. I was surprised.”
That decision speaks to the state the Bears were in upon Moore’s arrival.
He justified their faith with his play, setting career highs across the board with 96 receptions for 1,364 yards and eight touchdowns. The Bears rewarded Moore with a four-year, $110 million contract extension in July.
Darnell Wright Reflects on Rookie Lessons, Offers Advice for Caleb Williams
Bears right tackle Darnell Wright was the team’s only offensive lineman to start all 17 games in 2023, giving him plenty of live reps to build on in Year 2.
Asked what he has learned that he wished he had known as a rookie, Wright spoke honestly.
“There’s a lot of stuff I know now,” Wright said Monday. “The main thing is just treat every player, every game the same. Not make one player too big or make a lesser-known player too small. Kind of just treat every game and every player the same.”
Wright was solid as a rookie and will look to take another step in 2024. But his experience, while at an entirely different position, could still benefit Williams.
His advice for the rookie QB was simple.
“The main thing would be just staying focused later on in the season, taking care of his body,” Wright said. “I know he plays quarterback and we hope — or, no — he’s not going to be getting hit. But still, taking care of his body, staying focused. Because it can become mundane at times to practice each and every day but just staying focused.”
Matt Eberflus Updates Practice Plan, Not Injury Report
The start of the regular season means a significant change to injury reporting. That is notable for a Bears team dealing with some key players missing practice time. Eberflus did not address the injury report on Monday with the first report not due until Wednesday.
The Bears ended training camp with Keenan Allen, Montez Sweat, Roschon Johnson, and Zacch Pickens sidelined.
Eberflus previously expressed concern for Pickens’ availability.
Everyone else should play in the regular season opener against the Tennesee Titans at home in Soldier Field. Eberflus said they would go through “physical” practice sessions on Wednesday and Thursday before their typical “Fast Friday” ahead of Sunday’s tilt.