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Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson works on the field during practice at the team’s NFL football training camp, Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Lake Forest, Ill.<\/p>\n
Nam Y. Huh\/AP Photo\/Nam Y. Huh<\/p>\n
Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson (1) talks to the media at NFL football training camp Saturday, August 1, 2026, in Lake Forest, Ill.<\/p>\n
David Banks\/AP Photo\/David Banks<\/p>\n
LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) \u2014 Chicago Bears two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson knows the stakes are higher for veteran players even when they still have a full two seasons left on their contracts.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s especially high when they\u2019re trying to come back from a disappointing season brought on by injury, such as Johnson suffered through last year.<\/p>\n
The good news for Johnson is he\u2019s feeling good and practicing well.<\/p>\n
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\u201cNight and day, night and day,\u201d Johnson said, comparing his health last year to this year. \u201cLike I said, I needed a full offseason to get my legs back under me, to get some scar tissue and things like that out. Really just working and pushing my body.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel really good. I feel good with my speed. I feel with good with where I\u2019m at laterally, change of direction and all of that. I just gotta keep stacking days. Really, it\u2019s just working on my technique and getting consistent and back to just being dominant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bears coach Ben Johnson has seen his top cornerback standing out even when quarterback Caleb Williams was dominating the secondary earlier in camp, but the defense has started to assert itself now and that means Jaylon Johnson making plays.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a really good start,\u201d Ben Johnson said. \u201cI\u2019m happy with how he\u2019s approaching his work right now. He\u2019s highly motivated to garner the respect that certainly I had for him when I came into the building because he felt like last year was a disappointment. And so he wants to get back to being on the upper echelon of cover corners in this league. So, you kind of see that approach.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Johnson\u2019s contract expires after 2027, but because of the way next year\u2019s contract is structured the team could trade or cut him after 2026 for salary cap savings. As a result, this season becomes critical.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not a dummy,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe all know that and I\u2019ve structured my deal a certain way to put myself back at the table at the age of 27. For me, it was always for this point to get here, and then show how I do what I do and be healthy and be out there doing what I do best and that\u2019s covering, that\u2019s making plays, being a difference-maker. From there, wherever that contract talk goes, it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson put it all out on the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis definitely a contract year,\u201d he said. \u201cWe all know with the cap hit and all that stuff. It\u2019s definitely a contract year for me. At the end of the day, whether that\u2019s here, somewhere else, I\u2019ve gotta put it on tape that I\u2019m still a top guy in this league.\u201d<\/p>\n
His better health makes it possible. Last year a groin injury in offseason training, then another when he came off the injured list in Week 2 at Detroit nearly ended his season early.<\/p>\n
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Instead, Johnson fought back after surgery. He said during last season he was nowhere near 100% after coming back in a hurry from surgery for a Black Friday win at Philadelphia, before finishing out the season and playoffs in the lineup.<\/p>\n
\u201cI easily could have sat on my (rear) and not played and just watch it be what it was, but for me I felt like what I had to give was enough to contribute to the team,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cOf course, it wasn\u2019t nowhere near who I could be. I feel like people know that. For me it was just going out there competing, just wanting to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, Johnson is part of a new-look secondary with new starters Coby Bryant and Dillon Thieneman at safety and with several players sharing slot cornerback while Kyler Gordon recovers from a calf injury. They went through a few issues early trying to stop the offense at practice, a year after they led the NFL in takeaways with 33.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, for me on defense we\u2019re not different,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cOutside of takeaways we finished, if I\u2019m not mistaken, bottom 10, bottom five in a lot of categories.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, for me we ain\u2019t done a damn thing. There\u2019s a lot for us to prove on defense.”<\/p>\n
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They’re not planning to lean on Caleb Williams and the offense.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, the offense is rolling, but that\u2019s not something we can rely on,\u201d Johnson said. “OK, the offense go put up 40 and we\u2019ll hold them to 35.<\/p>\n
“To me, that\u2019s unacceptable. We\u2019ve still got a lot to work on. We\u2019ve still got a lot to do and to prove.\u201d<\/p>\n
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