Refined and refocused, Bears CB Jaylon Johnson poised for career year (2024)

When general manager Ryan Poles and coach Matt Eberflus took over the Bears in January 2022, they did so with a roster that was missing pretty much everything. Not only did the team lack proven veterans to be competitive in the short term, but it had minimal pieces in place for the future.

And even in that mostly desolate landscape, Poles and Eberflus seemed skeptical about cornerback Jaylon Johnson. He had been an immediate success as a rookie and only had climbed from there, appearing to almost everyone as a rising star at a premium position.

But the Bears weren’t sure. Even entering last season, when Poles refused to meet Johnson’s price for a contract extension, they seemed hesitant to commit.

Johnson, however, convinced them last season, when he had four interceptions and made his first Pro Bowl, and now he’s part of their foundation. He signed a four-year, $76 million extension in March, making him the eighth-highest-paid cornerback in the NFL this season and the fifth-highest-paid player on the Bears.

Eberflus said after minicamp practice Wednesday that Johnson earned his confidence through ‘‘discipline and daily work habits,’’ sharpening his skills at Halas Hall in the last two years and showing ‘‘clutch and consistency’’ in games last season.

Johnson, who is only 25 as he heads into his fifth season, won’t veer from that approach. He’s at the start of his prime and is angling to be the NFL’s top cornerback. He has refined his play and refocused his life, and he looks ready to take yet another step forward.

‘‘I can open my lens and see things that I couldn’t see before,’’ Johnson said of his individual growth. ‘‘I’m pretty comfortable with route concepts and how offenses go about doing things. Now just finding that rhythm again, getting back into it in minicamp.

‘‘I’m on a different level. The consistency part comes with honing in on my technique, and that’s something that I take extreme pride in. I’m gonna come in better than I ever have, just because of my preparation [and] the way that I’ve been able to grow mentally, spiritually and in all aspects.’’

When Johnson was a rookie, he was overmatched by then-Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ ability to decode a defense before the snap. He remembered realizing Rodgers knew exactly what the Bears were doing and how to beat it, and it was too late for Johnson or anyone else to do anything about it.

He’s trying to gain that grasp of offenses and now has a vast library after 3,266 snaps. He spends offseasons studying the top receivers he’ll face on the upcoming schedule, eager to contend with the Vikings’ Justin Jefferson, the Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown and anyone else who awaits him.

Having a lockdown cornerback to negate such offensive weapons is an essential item on the checklist if the Bears want to be a great defense. Poles built out the rest of the position with promising talent in Kyler Gordon, Tyrique Stevenson, Terell Smith and others. That group could be good for a long time.

And Johnson looks more and more like a great choice to lead it, which is quite a statement seven months after his outlook on the Bears got so bleak that he requested a trade.

He’s in a better space all around now. He recently got engaged and has a baby on the way, he got his massive payday and he’s poised to have his best season. And while all those things bring new challenges, he feels ready to navigate them.

‘‘Life never stops being life,’’ said Johnson, ever philosophical. ‘‘I’ve got plenty more obstacles that still keep a little pressure on my shoulders, but God gives me the strength to overcome any obstacle. I have full strength and endurance to get through it. . . . I don’t know what’s to come, but I know I’ll be good for it.’’