Johnson on Top 100 list snub: "They made some f***ing mistakes” |
LAKE FOREST, I.L. - Coming off of his four interceptions this past season, being selected to the Pro Bowl, and being named a second-team All-Pro, the Chicago Bears showed their respect for cornerback Jaylon Johnson with a four-year, $76 million contract extension.
Despite that, Johnson's fellow players in the league did not show their respect for him, as evidenced by his not being named one of the league's Top 100 players. “There ain’t no way. I don’t know (how) you make (the) Pro Bowl, All-Pro and you’re not a top 100 guy, I could have been 101 I guess. But Aaron Rodgers didn’t even play in the season, and he was voted. So, everybody makes mistakes. It ain’t just the media that do it. The players, clearly, if they voted for this, they made some f***ing mistakes. But, it is what it is. End of the day, I know (the) truth, and it’s okay. I got some more for them,” Johnson said. “It’s disrespectful because I know I go out there and line up, and I know receivers go out there and can’t say that I’m not one of the best people, best player, (they’ve) played against … Ain’t no way 100 guys (are) better. Ain’t no way, and especially guys who didn’t play, who were hurt, played half a**.” This snub was not specific to Johnson. In total, only five cornerbacks made the Top 100 list with other snubs, including Derek Stingley Jr from the Houston Texans, who had five interceptions, and Charvarius Ward on the San Francisco 49ers, who led the league in passes defended with 23. Not making the list stings a little more for Johnson, though, especially because he was the top-rated cornerback in the league by Pro Football Focus. Chicago only had two players on the Top 100 list—edge rusher Montez Sweat and receiver Keenan Allen, who played with the Los Angeles Chargers for the past 11 seasons. Allen had his highest number of receiving yards last year since 2017, his first Pro Bowl season. Perhaps going against such a high-caliber receiver like Allen will help propel Johnson to the Top 100 list next season, as Allen has a reputation for being one of the best route runners in the league. “(Allen) plays different. He is different. His route running is different, his timing, the way he crafts his routes is different,” Johnson said. “You have to be a little more patient and I feel like for me, it’s not something that I have to force myself to do. It’s just, you got to know who you’re going against, know your personnel, be a little more patient and really just play from there. But, at the end of the day, he’s somebody I look at (as) a top guy in this league. So, everytime I step up going against him, then I’m going to treat him accordingly.” As a leader on Chicago’s defense, it is part of Johnson’s job to help rookie quarterback Caleb Williams develop and be ready for whatever the regular season will throw his way. Williams has had some rookie struggles already, most notably with the verbal cadence. However, Johnson says he sees Williams' sense of urgency to improve and be ready for the Bears’ season opener against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, Sept. 8 (Noon / FOX). “He’s just going to keep growing. I feel like at the end of the day, he knows (the) time that we have until week one. But, he’s also having a sense of urgency with it as well. For us, it’s just about making it challenging on him, allowing him to grow against a good defense, not just grow within the offense and learn the offense, but also feeling that level of competition as well and getting all that,” Johnson said. “At the same time, I think for us, that’s just part of our job, to try to prepare him whether it’s trash talk, whether it’s giving different looks, whether it’s being in tight windows, tight coverage. Whatever it may be, I feel we’re trying to give him everything that he’s going to see on Sunday and I feel like he’s responding well, just got to keep going.” Williams, Johnson and the other starters on both sides of the ball did not appear in Chicago’s preseason opener against the Houston Texans where the Bears won 21-17. That made sense given the two teams will play against each other in week two of the regular season in the Bears’ first primetime game of the regular season on Sunday Night Football. Williams is going to see some preseason action and that may start on Sat. Aug. 10 when the Bears play their second preseason game against the Buffalo Bills (Noon / NFL Network).
