(670 The Score) While stressing he trusts the Bears’ front office to do what’s best for the organization, cornerback Jaylon Johnson on Monday also characterized just-traded star linebacker Roquan Smith as “definitely not somebody that you can just replace.”
“I know his value, I felt his value throughout the organization, not just really on the field,” Johnson said on the Parkins & Spiegel Show. “So I’m really just trying to think of ways that I feel like I can help the organization be better and fill whatever role he had. I mean, Roquan was Roquan. He was a character, a guy of great personality. But really, I’m just trying to find a way that I can to add that leadership value back into the organization, add that ‘it’ factor back into the organization. Because he’s definitely not somebody that you can just replace, somebody that can be duplicated. He is who he is, and we lost a big thing today. But at the end of the day, that’s part of life. It is what it is. We got to keep moving forward. We got to keep finding ways to get better. We all as individuals on the team and in the organization, we all have an individual responsibility to be better, to get better. With all that being said, we just got to really find ways to keep going, to raising the standard, to keep being better.”
Continuing their trend of making moves with an eye on their long-term future, first-year general manager Ryan Poles and the Bears on Monday afternoon agreed to trade the 25-year-old Smith to the Ravens for a second-round pick and a fifth-round pick. The move came five days after Chicago traded veteran pass rusher Robert Quinn to Philadelphia for a fourth-round pick.
The trades give the Bears more draft capital amid their rebuild, but they also will come at a cost on the field. Chicago lost 49-29 at Dallas on Sunday to drop to 3-5, and life will only get more difficult now for an undermanned defense that has lost its best player in Smith.
“It definitely makes it a lot harder,” Johnson said. “Those are great players. But at the end of the day, there’s more to it than just trading, giving guys away. I don’t think it’s ever as simple as that. I feel like there are some decisions that need to be made, and they’re not easy decisions. I feel like the front office what they feel is best for the future of the Bears organization. I can’t speak too much. Because I’ve never been in their shoes. I don’t know what each and every strategy is, but at the end day, I have trust that they’re doing what they think is best for the future of our organization. So for me, I’m just going to keep going out there, giving everything I’ve got to try to win and just keep doing my job.”
The trade of Smith was notable because at age 25, he was a player who many could envision being a key member of the Bears when they’re in a position to compete at a higher level. The trouble was Smith and the Bears didn’t see eye to eye on a new contract. Upset with what he viewed as the Bears’ failure to negotiate a long-term extension in good faith, Smith conducted a hold-in during training camp and also demanded a trade out of Chicago. That wish of his was initially rebuffed, and he played in the first eight games of the regular season, recording 83 tackles, 2.5 sacks and two interceptions.
Now, he’s off to Baltimore to join a Ravens team with Super Bowl aspirations, while the Bears will play out the string of a rebuilding season, hoping there will soon be better days on the horizon.
“Roquan has a very outgoing personality,” Johnson said. “He’s always talking, he’s always cracking jokes, he’s always doing things like that.
So I feel like there was never a day where Ro came in and he didn’t have a smile on his face, he wasn’t trying to crack jokes. That was just who Roquan was. He had a big boom box, listening to music. It may be rap music. It may be country music. You just never know what mood Roquan was in, things like that.
“He was just contagious. His energy was contagious. Anytime Roquan was around, you’re not going to have a straight face. Different things like, I mean, I could go on and on with football. He went sideline to sideline, talking trash to anybody and everybody. Just his energy, just the way he played the game, I felt like I was spoiled to come in and come in with Robert Quinn, come in with Roquan Smith.
“There’s a lot of people missing, but I feel like there’s definitely a lot of opportunity also that’s presenting itself. It’s definitely going to give a lot of guys some opportunities to step up, to lead and also to keep carrying on what it’s like to be a great human throughout that building.”
Listen live to 670 The Score via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker