The photo circulated on social media Sunday after the Green Bay Packers’ 20-19 victory over the Chicago Bears.
Many Bears players had exited the field after the Packers’ stunning block of kicker Cairo Santos’ 46-yard field-goal attempt. But cornerback Jaylon Johnson crouched on the sideline at Soldier Field, staring into the distance.
Johnson had been at the center of the Packers’ biggest play of their winning drive, when he fell while trying to defend wide receiver Christian Watson. With Johnson on the ground behind him, Watson made a diving catch on a wide ball from Jordan Love, bounced up after going untouched and ran another 40-plus yards before being taken down at the Bears 14-yard line.
“Just processing everything that went on in the game,” Johnson said of his postgame reaction. “The possibilities we had to win. And then it didn’t go out in our favor.”
By Wednesday when Johnson was reliving that moment at his locker at Halas Hall, he said he already had moved on. He was on to the next game by Tuesday, he said, and the attention this week’s opponent demands should help that quest.
The 2023 Bears Pro Bowler has new, even bigger challenges when he faces the Minnesota Vikings and wide receiver Justin Jefferson at Soldier Field. After an injury-marred 2023 season, Jefferson has 59 catches for 912 yards and five touchdowns in 10 games. He has totaled fewer than 81 receiving yards in a game just twice this season and was deemed “a very special player” by Bears cornerbacks coach Jon Hoke.
“He’s a really good route runner,” Hoke said. “He’s extremely competitive. And he’s really good to the ball. They throw him open. He can be covered, and they’ll still throw it to him, and he’ll go up and make a terrific play.”
Jefferson and Johnson were both drafted in 2020 and have played for the division rivals since. So it’s an oddity that in eight opportunities they’ve met only two other times — on Jan. 9, 2022, and Nov. 16, 2020. Jefferson totaled a combined 13 catches for 242 yards and a touchdown in those games.
Jefferson missed both games last season with a hamstring injury. Johnson missed both games in the 2022 season with injuries and two before that with injury and COVID-19.
But Johnson knows well what he and fellow cornerbacks Tyrique Stevenson, Terell Smith and Kyler Gordon will be dealing with.
“I don’t feel like he has a weakness,” Johnson said. “They’re going to try to get him the ball, so we have to be prepared to limit his production as best we can.
“I’m excited. I love playing against high-level guys like him. Just excited to go against their offense. Explosive offense. … I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Johnson also sees an opportunity this week in facing Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold, who has thrown 10 interceptions, including five in back-to-back weeks at the beginning of November. Johnson has two picks this season, and another certainly would help erase any bad taste from the Packers loss.
The fall against Watson was one of Johnson’s higher-profile missteps in recent memory. Johnson had jammed Watson at the line of scrimmage, then got tripped up as Watson ran a crossing route.
Bears defensive coordinator Eric Washington said the only things the Bears should have done differently on the play were “we’ve got to hit the quarterback and we’ve got to try to find a way to stay up.” And a few days later, Johnson said he wouldn’t have approached the play differently.
“I would have done it the same way,” Johnson said. “I was just trying to get in position to make a play on the ball, and my feet got tangled up. That was it.”
4 catches. 150 yards.
That’s #ProBison Christian Watson. pic.twitter.com/cWfBsnFtyv
— NDSU Football (@NDSUfootball) November 17, 2024
Johnson told the “Spiegel and Holmes Show” on WSCR-AM 670 he thought he would have been in position to make an interception if he hadn’t tripped. And Hoke agreed he might have been able to make a play on the ball.
“He was getting ready to slip the route and come underneath it,” Hoke said. “He would have been in great shape. He did fall. And he did hit the guy’s foot. But also, give the quarterback credit, he pushed the ball out in front. So it goes both ways in football.”
But Hoke had more to say on the play.
During the game, Bears coach Matt Eberflus challenged that Watson had made the catch, a ruling that stood after review. Hoke said he watched the replay “so many times” and does not think it was a catch.
“Go look at the replay. Go look at his left hand. It’s in a ball over here. It’s not over here,” Hoke said, gesturing in opposite directions. “The crazy thing is it’s a (yellow) glove, and you can see where it is, and this one (moves away), and the front of the ball hits the ground.”
A replay official — and Hoke pondered who that was — disagreed, and the Packers scored the winning touchdown two plays later. The Bears, of course, had a chance for the winning field goal, but Santos’ kick was blocked, putting more scrutiny on the defense giving up a second winning drive in four games.
Now the Bears must try to stop the 8-2 Vikings and an offense that has surprised behind Darnold. They’re averaging 341 yards and 224.6 passing yards per game, the latter ranked 13th. Aaron Jones and Jordan Addison come in behind Jefferson with 29 and 24 catches, respectively.
Washington believes Johnson should be able to leave behind the Watson play to focus on the Vikings — and his first shot at Jefferson in years.
“He’s the ultimate competitor and pro, and at the corner position, especially in the secondary, you have to have a short memory,” Washington said. “You have to be able to reset very quickly, and that’s who he is. And his play and his whole approach really confirms that.”
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