Bears Need to Seriously Consider Benching Jaylon Johnson

In the Chicago Bears' 30-24 win over the New England Patriots, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen's defense gave up a 48-yard touchdown to running back Rhamondre Stevenson with three seconds left before halftime. 

The Bears had several defenders who took poor angles, trying to stop Stevenson from scoring. Allen rushing six was a questionable decision, but Chicago still had enough players to stop the play from reaching the end zone. 

Although several players failed to execute their assignments on that play, one player's mistake stood out above the rest. Veteran cornerback Jaylon Johnson was in man coverage on wide receiver A.J. Brown and followed him to the 32-yard line at midfield until he noticed Stevenson had the ball on the screen pass. Johnson took a slow angle up field towards the right sideline, and the Patriots' running back simply cut back inside and Johnson got just his right hand on Stevenson's right quad and saw the back of his jersey as he ran away towards the end zone. 

Earlier in the game, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye ran into the open field towards Johnson's direction and made a move inside to make the Bears' cornerback completely whiff on a tackle. 

He was flagged for pass interference on the Patriots' field goal drive in the fourth quarter. For someone who has a $24.5 million cap hit, his performance isn't matching up anywhere close to his contract.

This game isn't just a one-off for the Bears' cornerback. This is a continuation of how the regular season started. With the Bears next game not until Nov. 2 against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football, the team has to consider benching Johnson. 

Against the Patriots, rookie Malik Muhammad played 17 of his 18 total defensive snaps at outside corner. He gave up one reception on three targets for 18 yards. Muhammad was credited with a PBU on a deep ball in coverage against Brown in the third quarter. The rookie defensive back was also on that Stevenson screen touchdown and appeared to go in the other direction opposite of the ball carrier for whatever reason, but he's been playing a lot better than Johnson. 

Tyrique Stevenson played 35 defensive snaps. The veteran corner allowed two catches on three targets for 32 yards. He also had a PBU on a deep pass intended for Brown in the end zone late in the fourth quarter.

Veteran nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon played 31 defensive snaps on Thursday night. As his playing time rises, he should take over as the starting nickel cornerback, which frees up Muhammad to play more on the outside -- the position he played in college at Texas. 

Johnson is statistical one of the worst graded corners in the National Football League. Here are some key stats from Pro Football Focus. 

His play has hurt this Bears defense, and his Thursday night performance is only 11 days removed from the matchup against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. A day that Jordan Love torched Chicago's secondary, and a day that featured Johnson on the absolutely wrong end of a highlight reel, after running back MarShawn Lloyd trucked the Bears' corner on his way to a touchdown. 

Bears head coach Ben Johnson will likely reevaluate a variety of different aspects about his team on this mini bye, and benching Johnson should be one of the topics that is discussed. 

Muhammad's health could play a big factor, though. He didn't finish the game against the Patriots because of a toe injury, and he was seen in a boot after the game. 

However, if the rookie is good to go and Gordon is back to playing a full game, there's really no excuse to have Jaylon Johnson playing when he isn't producing. Ben Johnson has always talked about holding players accountable and enforcing discipline, something he mentioned during his introductory press conference at Halas Hall in Jan. 2025. 

"I think, the most important thing and I’ve already alluded to it a couple of times now is clear communication and structure and expectation," Johnson said. "That’s really what we’re going to outline. We will set the standard in terms of what it looks like, what it should look like, what it shouldn’t look like. Any time it’s not hitting that standard and that mark it will be put on us as a coaching staff to call guys out and repeat offenders will have to continue to be made an example of."

Well, the Bears' head coach has a prime opportunity to enforce that standard once the team returns to play under the lights in Seattle.