Jaylon Johnson T.J. Edwards Kyler Gordon Bears Injuries Bears Inactives Bears News
Getty
Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson is active against the Vikings for Week 1.
The Chicago Bears won’t have two starters in their secondary available for their 2025 season opener against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football.
Roughly 90 minutes before kickoff, the Bears declared seven players inactive against the Vikings, including top cornerback Jaylon Johnson — who is out with a groin injury.
Johnson only just returned to practice this week after missing all of training camp with a groin injury, which he suffered while training on his own before reporting to the team facility for camp in July. While the Bears had expressed optimism for weeks that he would be ready for Week 1, their decision indicates he has not made enough progress.
The Bears also ruled out slot cornerback Kyler Gordon (hamstring) after they made him a late addition to the injury report on Sunday afternoon. The Bears did, however, clear Gordon’s backup — Josh Blackwell — of his groin injury and did not rule him inactive.
Chicago’s other Week 1 inactives include: linebacker T.J. Edwards (hamstring), running back Roschon Johnson (foot), veteran backup quarterback Case Keenum, rookie defensive tackle Shemar Turner and offensive lineman Kiran Amegadjie.
The Bears will kick off against the Vikings at Soldier Field at 8:15 p.m. ET tonight.
Bears Are Slight Underdogs Against Vikings for MNF
The Bears have generated quite a bit of hype about their team following the hiring of Ben Johnson as their head coach during the 2025 offseason, but so much so that the oddsmakers in Vegas are tilting in their favor for their first game of the new season.
The Bears will enter their prime-time matchup with the Vikings as 1.5-point underdogs, according to both DraftKings Sportsbook and BetMGM. The over/under is 43.5 points.
Oddsmakers are high on the shootout potential for Monday’s game with two offensive-minded head coaches at the helm, but bettors should beware the young signal-callers — Chicago’s Caleb Williams and Minnesota’s J.J. McCarthy — leading the two offenses.
The Bears are high on the potential of Williams, 2024’s No. 1 pick, to make a leap under Johnson in Year 2, but they need him to see the field better than he did as a rookie and reduce his time to throw if they want real improvement. Meanwhile, McCarthy will play his first NFL regular-season game on Monday after losing his rookie season to injury.
In both cases, high passing numbers are possible but far from guaranteed.
How Will Bears Secondary Get on Without Jaylon Johnson?
With neither Johnson nor Gordon cleared, the Bears will need to depend on their other cornerbacks in the rotation for meaningful reps against Jefferson and the Vikings.
Whether Chicago can trust those other cornerbacks, though, is a big question.
The Bears will expectedly start Tyrique Stevenson, a 2023 second-round pick, at one of their boundary cornerback spots, but Nahshon Wright could take over for Johnson in the other outside role after losing his training-camp battle with Stevenson for the No. 2.
Wright has played 33 career games — including one for the Vikings in 2024 — and has logged solid coverage numbers (59.5 completion percentage allowed) in that time, but he has started just three games and remains mostly unproven for the Bears defense.
The Bears could also consider starting Nick McCloud, a veteran free agent signing, in place of Johnson. He is the only other healthy cornerback on the 53-man roster beyond Stevenson and Wright, but he likely only made the roster because of the season-ending situations with both Terell Smith (knee injury) and rookie Zah Fraizer (personal issue).
D’Andre Swift Could Take Lead for Bears Offense
While fans are eagerly anticipating the debut of Williams in Johnson’s new offense, the Bears might end up leaning more so on their running game in Monday’s prime-time dance with the Vikings — or, more specifically, on veteran starter D’Andre Swift.
Swift could be the workhorse for the Bears’ backfield on Monday night with Johnson out and rookie Kyle Monangai suiting up for his first career NFL game. He rushed for 959 yards on 253 carries behind a lousy offensive line and a disjointed offense in 2024 for Chicago, but a revamped system and improved line should set him up for success.
The offseason rebuild might even help Swift achieve career-best numbers in 2025, especially with how Johnson has spoken about his intentions with the run game.
“I’ve got an affinity more so for the run game than what people might realize,” Johnson said recently. “I spend more time and I dabble in that maybe more than I do the passing game. The passing game to me? I won’t even get into that.
“There’s nothing more beautiful to me than seeing 11 guys execute a wide zone play the way that we’re coaching it. Even if it’s just a 10-, 12-yard gain, to see it come to life like that — techniques, fundamentals.”