(670 The Score) Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson wasn’t surprised that Chicago’s season opener against Tennessee was a hard-fought, close game.
As he sees it, that’s life in the NFL and he figured the Bears defense might need to help pick up a new-look offense in rookie quarterback Caleb Williams’ debut. So a day after the Bears rallied from a 17-point deficit to earn a 24-17 win against the Titans on Sunday behind a defensive touchdown and a special teams touchdown, Johnson explained why he didn’t like the game being described as a “scare.”
“I like people looked at the Bears and go, ‘OK, the Bears are a super magical team,’” Johnson said in an interview with Matt Spiegel and Patrick Mannelly on 670 The Score on Monday evening.
“At the end of the day, we did what a lot of good teams in the offseason did – we went and we added pieces and got great draft picks, defense is coming back revamped, adding Darrell Taylor in a trade. We did what I felt a lot of good teams did, but that that doesn’t make us invincible. We got to go out there and prove ourselves. I’m not looking at it as a scare, as if we felt like we’re invincible.
“Nah, we haven’t proved ourselves like that. So I think for me when I hear ‘scare,’ that’s the outside talking us up, the outside pressure trying to come in and make it seem like, ‘Oh, it’s a scare.’ Nah, they’re a good team too. They went and added guys. They have a good defense."
Before the regular season got going, it was Johnson who had shared that he was tired of the hype surrounding the Bears and that it was time to prove it. He’s carrying the same mindset now as Chicago has started 1-0 and will visit the Houston Texans (1-0) next Sunday night.
"I love it," Johnson said of facing the C.J. Stroud-led Texans. "This one has been circled. I haven't circled too many games in my career. I feel like this is definitely one is circled for sure, just the respect I have for the guys on that team."