NFL: Chicago Bears at Washington Commanders Oct 27, 2024; Landover, Maryland, USA; Washington Commanders wide receiver Luke McCaffrey (12) runs with the ball as Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson (1) defends during the fourth quarter at Northwest Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Chicago Bears receive regular season injury uncertainty on Jaylon Johnson

Originally posted on ChiCitySports | By Dan Fappiano | Last updated Jul 22, 2025 1:49 PM ET

Before training camp opened, cornerback Jaylon Johnson was among four players the Chicago Bears placed on the Active/Non-Football Injury list. As training camp opened, general manager Ryan Poles confirmed exactly what Johnson received that designation.

While gearing up for camp, Johnson suffered a leg injury. Poles wouldn’t go into more detail about the exact injury, but he did note that Johnson is now facing a multi-week absence, via the team’s Monday press conference. When Johnson will make his return is now up in the air.

“When he was training, he had a leg injury. Not going to get into the details of that, but it is going to take a few weeks before he can come back,” Poles said. “We’ve got a lot of faith that he’s going to put in the time to rehab and be his full self when he comes back. It’s going to take a bit of time, but we’re not overly concerned about the long-term.”

Chicago Bears counting on Jaylon Johnson

Missing Johnson for any amount of time is a major detriment to the Bears. He is a veteran an understands what it takes to succeed at the highest level. However, Dennis Allen is implementing a brand new scheme. The Bears want to ensure Johnson and all defenders know it fluently.

But it’s one thing to miss training camp practices. It’d be much worse should Johnson be forced out of regular season action. Since coming to Chicago in 2020, Johnson has recorded 214 tackles, 49 passes defended and seven interceptions. He was named to his second-straight Pro Bowl in 2024 after putting up a career-high 53 tackles alongside eight passes defended and two picks. Furthermore, Johnson’s 76.2 grade from Pro Football Focus ranked 20/222 cornerbacks.

Poles stated that there will be further updates on Johnson and that they don’t believe it’ll be a severe long-term problem. However, Johnson has laid forth some lofty expectations for himself. The Bears are counting on him to lead the secondary. Any missed time could hamper both plans.

For now, Chicago is remaining cautiously optimistic. But Johnson’s injury update was quite the shock to open Johnson’s first training camp with the Bears.

This article first appeared on ChiCitySports and was syndicated with permission.

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