It was just over three months ago when the Bears started their offseason program and way too soon for cornerback Jaylon Johnson to get into the "all in" line for defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and new coach Ben Johnson.
It wasn't too soon for others, but Johnson had been through it all again and again.
"I've been through it too many times, man," Jaylon Johnson said at the time. "I'm going to get excited when we win in November. And December. And when we change some things and get into the playoffs. That's when I'm going to get excited."
Johnson wanted to hold off on the overt optimism until camp starts.
Jaylon Johnson getting the respect he deserves. pic.twitter.com/7goM4y1jcD
— Bears History (@ChiBearsHistory) July 1, 2025
"Because things may start off rocky in the beginning and we'll figure it out and things change throughout the back half or the middle of the season, " he said. "Or we start off hot and then (blank) the bed."
The sheets still looked clean enough during OTAs and minicamp that Johnson was a willing participant for voluntary and mandatory on-field work. This, in and of itself, was an indication his mind was changing based on his past offseason participation.
#Bears DBs Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, and Jaquan Brisker training together during the offseason 🔥
(via Johnny Johnson and Prospect Media/IG) pic.twitter.com/VCly9Dm948
— Chicago Bears Network (@bearsnetwork_) July 2, 2025
Then came the break after OTAs and Johnson seems now to have gone all in like everyone else.
The Bears cornerback told Cassie Carlson of Fox32 Sports in Chicago during the Jaylon Johnson football camp at Lane Tech that he decided to do something he has never done. He had offseason practice sessions with other Bears cornerbacks like Terell Smith, Tyrique Stevenson and the safeties at UNLV. His brother, Johnny, a fitness trainer, donated his time to th work.
"That's definitely been my first time since I came into the league and came into the building with Chicago," he told Carlson.
Jaylon Johnson being an 89 while dudes like Christian Gonzalez, Sauce, Stingley, Humphrey, Ward, Ramsey, Mcduffie, JAIRE???? are all 90 plus is why I will never take madden seriously pic.twitter.com/3aURtPpNiL
— Ben Johnson the Prophet (@DaBears_2) June 24, 2025
Johnson said he is sticking with an earlier stated goal of 10 total takeaways, and figures he can get seven interceptions but added an extra ambition—he wants to be first-team All-Pro after being second team already.
One of the main reasons he thinks it's possible is the coaching staff, Johnson and Allen, the guys he wasn't yet ready to accept as catalysts for a turnaround back in April.
Jaylon Johnson quadruple teamed on a go route at his football camp! #Bears pic.twitter.com/UFLKW2MyZz
— Mike Berman (@MikeBermanNBC) July 9, 2025
"I think really, just him setting the tone with how he operates throughout the building and with the guys in the locker room, I feel like for us we know th standard that he's setting," Johnson said of Ben Johnson. "We know what high-level football looks like, of course, where he's come from, where Dennis Allen has come from and different things like that.
"So we're able to see it actually being done and things like that. So I think for us it's really just listening and taking it all in and then for us pushing each other. And I feel like it's really going to be up to the players to win. I feel like that's my biggest thing."
"I don't feel like it's going to be a staff where we can try to blame it on somebody else and things like that."
- Jaylon Johnson on Bears coaching change
Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker have been putting in WORK with training camp around the corner. 🔥😤
📸: @prospectmedia_ pic.twitter.com/FmVlkjlaMT
— Bearsszn (@bearssznn) July 8, 2025
This was the accountability factor at work that players—and especially Johnson when he reportedly stood up to Matt Eberflus in the Thanksgiving postgame locker room in Detroit last year—wanted to see.
"I don't feel like it's going to be a staff where we can try to blame it on somebody else and things like that," Johnson said. "It's going to be real cleared up and cleaned up for us and we've got to go out there and win."
Talking interception goals and #Bears DBs training together in Vegas with Jaylon Johnson. Check it out! @fox32news https://t.co/ux1hJfOmXc
— Cassie Carlson (@CassieCarlsonTV) July 10, 2025
This holds true with Ben Johnson's coaching but especially with the man-to-man defensive approach Allen brings along. It makes everything clear, Johnson added.
A few months of work have pulled Jaylon Johnson into formation. The others seemed in place already.
It's a good place for everyone to be with training camp a week and a half away.
#DaBears Jaylon Johnson mic’d up, exclusively for The Bigs, during his Youth Football Camp! @HerbHoward411 was right beside the star CB as he coached & encouraged his campers… and chimed in with some commentary of his own#TheBIGS #ItsUS pic.twitter.com/koX7h66oRE
— #TheBIGS (@TheBigsMedia) July 10, 2025
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