Getty Jaylon Johnson isn't expecting to get picked for the 2023 Pro Bowl based on his lack of splash plays.
Jaylon Johnson has no doubts about his abilities as an NFL cornerback, but the Chicago Bears’ rising star is also realistic about what it takes to become a Pro Bowl cornerback — and what he needs to add to his game to eventually get there.
Johnson was asked heading into the Week 14 bye whether he believes he has had a Pro Bowl season for the Bears in 2022 and actually told reporters that he does not expect to be considered for the honor based on how the selection process works each season.
“I’m gonna say no in the fact that I feel like Pro Bowl comes from popularity,” Johnson said on December 5, “and I feel like popularity comes from highlight plays, and I wouldn’t feel that I’ve had enough highlight plays to say … I deserve the Pro Bowl. Do I think I’m a Pro Bowl-caliber player? Hell yeah, but I feel like it comes with the picks. The picks are looked at as highlight players, no better if it was a tipped pick or you got beat on a play, the dude falls to the ground [and] the ball pops up. You get two or three of those, ‘Oh yeah, he’s a good guy, he’s got three picks!’ Like, you were beat! But for me, it’s like, I haven’t been in those predicaments. I haven’t gotten any tipped picks. I haven’t gotten all of those opportunities that I feel like a lot of people get in the league.”
Johnson is undoubtedly one of the rising stars on the Bears’ current roster, but he is also right to be realistic about the popularity factors that go into making the Pro Bowl. A cornerback with zero interceptions isn’t going to be picked for the honorary roster, especially not when fan votes count for a third of the decision. There is also the fact the Bears hold one of the worst records in football at 3-10, which Johnson acknowledges also clouds some of the individual achievements in the minds of the voters.
“I feel like also, too, in the sense of being on a losing team, people look down on everything that you do individually,” Johnson added. “It’s just kinda, ‘The Bears are s— or the Bears are this or the Bears are that.’ So it’s hard to gain the popularity votes when there’s so much negativity surrounding from the outside in.”
Brisker, Kmet Among Top 10 for Pro Bowl Voting
The NFL has been releasing weekly updates on the voting results as it pertains to the Pro Bowl, and in the most recent update, two Bears had joined the top 10 at their respective positions while another one of them fell out of contention entirely.
According to Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic, Bears rookie Jaquan Brisker (seventh at strong safety) and Cole Kmet (eighth at tight end) each cracked the top 10 heading into Week 14 of the regular season. Eddie Jackson, however, fell completely out of the top 10 after just last week being the NFC’s top vote-getting free safety, which is likely the result of him suffering a season-ending foot injury in Week 12’s loss.
Two Bears are in the top 10 in Pro Bowl votes at their respective positions: Jaquan Brisker (7th at SS) and Cole Kmet (8th at TE).
Brisker has been a seasonlong standout for the Bears and will likely be named an All-Rookie selection when the Pro Football Writers Association picks their honorary roster later this year. He might even get some consideration for the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Meanwhile, Kmet has gotten hot over the past month and a half of the regular season with 23 receptions for 260 yards and five touchdowns on just 32 targets. He is also coming off a season-high six catches against the Packers in Week 13.
Aaron Rodgers Considers Johnson a ‘Premier’ Corner
Johnson is confident enough in his own abilities to feel good about his performance for the Bears, but it doesn’t hurt to hear validation from one of the all-time greats at quarterback. Aaron Rodgers called Johnson “super talented” and a “premier player” following the Bears’ loss to the Packers on Sunday, something that Johnson doesn’t take lightly even though it mostly just confirms what he believes about himself.
“I would just say it’s confirmation of what I believe in myself,” Johnson said. “Somebody else being a believer in that, I feel like that’s not something that gets thrown around lightly from [Rodgers]. I feel like it goes back to having a certain body of work and I feel like also, too, that respect came last year guarding Davante. Not even just being on him, but actually being able to limit his production, being able to limit what they do and them having to make adjustments based on my production on him, and I feel like it just goes back to the consistency, I feel like, that he may see in me.”