Johnson was positioned on the non-football harm record when veterans reported to Chicago for camp. He suffered the harm throughout offseason coaching, in line with Bears normal supervisor Ryan Poles.
Johnson is coming off his second consecutive Professional Bowl and is headed into the second yr of a four-year, $76 million deal. He has handled a variety of accidents over his profession, enjoying not more than 15 video games in a season over the primary 4 years of his profession. In 2024, he performed a full season for the primary time, beginning all 17 video games with a career-high 1,032 snaps.
An prolonged absence into the common season would pressure Chicago to seek out one other beginning cornerback amongst their veteran depth, however Poles mentioned that the group isn’t “overly involved” a couple of long-term harm.
“We’ve received numerous religion that he’s going to place within the time to rehab and be his full self when he comes again,” mentioned Poles on Tuesday.
2023 fifth-rounder Terell Smith will probably step right into a first-team position in Johnson’s absence. Chicago largely relied on a cornerback trio of Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson and Kyler Gordon final yr; Smith is the one remaining defensive again on the roster who performed at the very least 150 snaps on the boundary for the Bears in 2024, in line with Pro Football Focus.
Offseason signings Nick McCloud and Tre Flowers may see a bump in reps over the approaching weeks as Johnson rehabs his leg together with his eyes on returning for the Bears’ Week 1 opener towards the Vikings.
