(670 The Score) The thought has crossed Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson’s mind that he could be playing his final game with safety Eddie Jackson come Sunday.
And that possibility makes Johnson wistful, as he showcased on the Parkins & Spiegel Show on Wednesday evening as he detailed what a beloved teammate has meant to him.
“For me, it’s been a heckuva of a journey with Eddie, and I’ve learned to grow and to understand Eddie,” Johnson said. “Really, I think (when I was) coming in to the league (in 2020), it was, Eddie had just got paid. The Eddie Jackson I know now versus the Eddie Jackson I knew when I got into the league, I feel like it’s two totally different guys. I think just being able to grow with him as players and stuff on the field – I mean, me and Eddie used to get into it. He used to say just little rookie things (at me) or ‘You ain’t been in it long enough.’ It’s always been love and a certain push. But I think too now, just being able to develop a certain chemistry and respect for Eddie, I think it’s something that I’ll always appreciate if it is our last game. Just always having that. Because there’s times where, quite honestly, we do things off script, where there’s things that we’ll see and I’ll look and be like, ‘Hey Eddie, are we going to do this? Are we going to do that? Are we going to two-man this? Or are we going to do this? Or if he does this, you take it and I’m going to take this.’ So just being able to have that chemistry with a safety that you can be in sync with, I think that’s special. That’s a special thing. And I’ve been able to get that, I think, really since my second year.”
The 30-year-old Jackson will conclude his seventh season with Chicago when the Bears (7-9) visit the Packers (8-8) on Sunday for their season finale. Because of NFL economics, it could also be Jackson’s last game with the Bears.
Jackson is under contract through the 2024 season, when he’s scheduled to carry an $18.1-million cap hit, but the Bears could save about $12 million if they were to cut him this offseason. Given that Chicago has a bevy of talented young players in its secondary already and the draft capital to keep adding more, it may make more sense to the veteran Jackson go and use the savings to shore up weaknesses elsewhere.
No decision has been revealed yet about Jackson’s future. If Sunday does mark the end of playing alongside Jackson, Johnson will cherish the experience one last time.
“I think he’s learned to trust me as well, being able to go out there and perform and play the game at the highest level,” Johnson said. “So I mean, just really that. And also too, growing spiritually. We’ve had plenty of conversations about our relationship with God and how we can grow closer as men together and just helping each other. We started a prayer circle every day after practice. We’ve been in it, we’ve been through it. Of course, it hasn’t been too many wins or things like that. But through the adversity, through the good times, I feel like me and Eddie have always been solid. I feel like if he was to leave, I think that’d definitely be hard on me. Because I’ve had a lot of older guys leave, but I think with leaving, considering the time spent, considering everything we’ve done on and off the field, I think that would be probably the hardest move. I think that would be the hardest move for me, honestly. I think just his presence on the field, I think he’s just a guy that brings a lot of confidence to the team, brings a lot of confidence to our defense and our secondary. So if it is his last one, I know his presence will definitely be missed.”