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Back on November 23, Chicago Bears veteran safety Tashaun Gipson asserted publicly that the team’s head coach, Matt Nagy, had not lost the locker room.
“I think everybody in the locker room love playing for Nagy,” Gipson said then.
With Nagy all but guaranteed to lose his job at the end of the season, it sounds like some Bears players may already be checking out. According to starting cornerback Jaylon Johnson, the team’s locker room is currently divided into players who are entering tank mode and those that aren’t.
The second-year corner, who is fresh from holding All-Pro wide receiver Davante Adams to two catches on five targets for 19 yards and a touchdown in Chicago’s Week 14 loss to the Green Bay Packers, appeared on Barstool Sports’ Red Line Radio on December 16, and Johnson didn’t hold back.
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Johnson Says Bears’ Locker Room Has Players Ready to ‘Tank’
When asked what the morale was like in the Bears’ locker room, Johnson had a rather candid moment, noting he and his teammates weren’t all on the same page right now:
I mean, you have a little bit of both. You have the side of the locker room that is starting to go into the tank and you have the guys that are still trying to fight and figure out how we can get better. I mean, at the end of the day, that’s the name of the game is trying to get better each and every week and then just being able to put four quarters of football together. It’s not about one quarter being good at some times and at moments, but really being able to figure out how we can be good for four quarters and find ways to win football games. But, I mean, you definitely have the ups and downs in the locker room as expected, but just being able to keep as many guys as we can together and keep fighting for wins.
Oof. It sounds like Johnson and several other leaders on the team are trying to keep this thing from going off the rails — but it may be too late.
Yikes
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Johnson: ‘I’m Just Trying to Lead By Example’
Johnson was also asked how players like himself and Roquan Smith, who are leaders on the team, are attempting to reel the season before things get too out of control, Johnson said this:
“Honestly for me I’m not gonna lie to you. I try to just do my part and kind of worry about myself. I find when you get out of your circle, when you get out of your bubble you start trying to do too much and different things like that,” Johnson replied, adding:
For me, I’m really just trying to be one guy to lead by example, because, I mean, it’s easy to be a rah-rah guy and walk around here trying to get people riled up, and I think that we’re all grown men and if you’re not motivated to come in and play, and motivated to get better and to work and take on the challenges that come each and every week, then, I mean, there ain’t nothing that I can tell you. I just try to do my part and keep my head down and keep working, keep taking on every challenge that I get every week, so when that time does come where I do need to speak up, they know that I’ve lived by example, that I earned the right to speak.
Those are some strong words coming from the 22-year-old corner, who promises to be one of the team’s defensive building blocks moving forward. Perhaps Johnson knows his tenure in Chicago will far outlast that of Nagy’s, so he’s dropping truth bombs as a result. Regardless, his comments raise significant questions about the current state of the locker room — and it remains to be seen whether Nagy lasts the remainder of the season with his players revealing things like this.
You can watch Johnson’s interview below:
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Bears’ Starter’s Comments About Tanking Locker Room Raise Eyebrows