(670 The Score) Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson had arguably the most high-profile matchup of his career Sunday, when he shadowed Eagles star receiver A.J. Brown everywhere in Chicago's 25-20 loss to Philadelphia at Soldier Field.
Johnson's assignment was hard not just because of Brown's size and talent but because the Bears rarely provided Johnson with safety help as they looked to slow down the Eagles' strong rushing attack. Brown made nine catches for 181 yards, but Johnson also made life difficult on him for most of the afternoon by defending him aggressively at the line of scrimmaged and making three pass breakups. It took 16 targets for Brown to amass his big numbers, and a 68-yard reception in the fourth quarter turned what was a pretty even day between the two in Brown's favor in the final box score.
"I'm going to give myself an A," Johnson said in assessing his performance on the Parkins & Spiegel Show on Monday evening. "Honestly, I feel like it's one of those things where it's like, the assignment was to go in here and, 'We're going to play single-high and Jaylon, you have to make plays. You're by yourself on him.' So it's like knowing that, going against Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown on an island and it's not like play off him – no, I'm getting in the guy's face. I feel like there was never a time I wasn't in his hip pocket. For me, I got the balls out that I felt like I had a true opportunity to get out, making PBUs. On some deep balls that were overthrown, I feel like that was due to good coverage. Really, he's going to catch them too. He just got paid a lot of money. He's not no scrub guy.
"Nobody has played him how I played him. I feel like being able to get in somebody's face, I feel like for him, that's not something he's used to. He's not used to people getting up there, challenging him, being in his face, using good technique, having their hands on.
"They kept throwing him the ball. Like you said, 16 targets. You're bound to get 180 yards on 16 targets. So I mean, I feel like they stuck to it. They saw we continued to be in single-high. So I mean hey, you throw enough deep balls, eventually it's going to crack. You throw enough slants, eventually you're going to catch some. As many times as they threw the ball, I'm not surprised by the numbers."
Later in the conversation with Parkins & Spiegel, Johnson was asked if he wants to be a Bear for life. He's under contract through the 2023 season, making this upcoming offseason a logical time for extension discussions to take place.
"I'm looking forward to it," Johnson said when directly asked if he wanted to be a Bear for life. "I don't plan on packing my house up just yet. I just moved into it. I'd like to move into a bigger one in Chicago if they let me.
"I'll enjoy my little house while I can, then hopefully I can upgrade."
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