Controversy in the NFL is difficult to avoid, especially when a team experiences a regime change during an offseason. New head coach Matt Eberflus did an impressive job avoiding any media landmines during his first three months in charge. However, it was never going to last forever. The first bit of intrigue arrived during Organized Team Activities when beat writers noticed cornerback Jaylon Johnson was running with the #2 defense in practice rather than his usual spot with the #1.
Considering most people had him penciled in as the obvious top cornerback for the Bears defense this year, it was hard not to notice. Eberflus insisted that people not read too much into it. The decision was driven more by the coaches wanting to ease Johnson into practice since he’d arrived late to the program. They wanted to see where his conditioning was at. Besides, moving guys between 1s and 2s would be regular during these early stages.
It was a reasonable explanation. One Jaylon Johnson didn’t buy.
Anybody that knows the young cornerback at this point understands he is a highly competitive person. He has absolute belief in his ability, both because of his natural talent and his relentless work ethic. Anybody who questions him that way is met with an ice cold response, even in the media. Johnson appeared on The Jim Rome Show to talk about his career thus far. Inevitably he was asked about the practice demotion and if it bothered him. His response was interesting.
“I’m not going to say it didn’t bother me, but I mean at the end of the day it’s not anything that I’m going to give too much energy to. I feel like it’s one of those things where I know what I can do and, if I’m not mistaken, they know what I can do. I don’t think it’s a matter of my ability. They have their reasons for why they do what they do. They’re the coaches. They’re running the team, so I’m not going to challenge that.
But at the end of the day, I know what I can do. I know who I am right now. I know what I’m building to. The main thing is trying to get better with the reps that I get. Then just moving forward from there. But I don’t see it as a problem.”
The response says plenty.
Two things are apparent. Jaylon Johnson was absolutely annoyed by the decision to put him on the 2nd team, but he also doesn’t think the coaches will keep him there because he’s too good. Whatever their reasoning was, it won’t matter in the end. There is nobody on the roster better than him, and they’ll reach that realization soon enough. It is hard to argue with his logic. Maybe new arrival Kyler Gordon surpasses him down the line, but likely not for a year at least.
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Johnson isn’t going to let the demotion slide without saying something. Still, he also won’t press any further and become a distraction. His play this summer will do the talking.
