Chicago Bears two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson gave a succinct response when asked last week about his mindset toward playing the Green Bay Packers in his team’s 2024 regular-season finale: “F*** ’em.”
On Sunday, Johnson doubled down on his words with a middle-finger salute to several Packers fans at Lambeau Field as he exited the field with an injury. He also wrote a fiery postgame message on social media to celebrate his first career win over the Packers.
“I said what I said,” Johnson wrote on X.
The Bears did not have many celebratory moments throughout their tumultuous 2024 season, but the now-viral still shot of Johnson flipping off crowds of Packers fans does make for an iconic image to commemorate the team snapping its 10-game losing streak and defeating the Packers on their home turf for the first time since the 2015 season.
For Johnson, it marked the first time the Bears had beaten the Packers in his five-year NFL career. The Bears hadn’t won a game against the Packers since December 2018.
Johnson, however, did express regret about his behavior in the postgame — though he claims Packers fans started it with their trash talk as he exited the field with an injury.
“I dunno who said it, but they was talking crazy on my way out,” Johnson said, via The Chicago Sun-Times. “Some of them were like, ‘[Screw] you’ … And then I lost my cool. I’ve gotta be better. But there was definitely some trash-talking on the way out.”
Jaylon Johnson Earned Pro Bowl Nod for 2024 Play
Not much went right for the Bears during the 2024 season, but the play of Johnson will stand out as a major bright spot when the team starts reflecting on the bigger picture.
Johnson had another strong season for the Bears in 2024 after signing a four-year, $76 million contract extension with the team last March. The 2020 second-round pick had a career-high 53 total tackles — including a career-most seven for a loss — and recorded two interceptions and eight pass deflections while starting in all 17 games. According to Pro Football Focus, he also held the second-best lockdown percentage (61.90%) among all NFL cornerbacks heading into Week 18’s slate of games, a notable achievement.
For his excellence, Johnson was selected to represent the Bears as a starter for the NFC at the 2025 Pro Bowl Games. He also made the Pro Bowl in 2023, making him the first Bears cornerback to earn back-to-back selections since Kyle Fuller in 2018 and 2019.
Ultimately, individual accolades will not satisfy someone like Johnson, who has been vocal about his frustrations with the Bears’ consistent losing throughout his career. It should at least validate to the Bears, though, that he is a foundation of their roster.
How Will Bears Handle Cornerback Position in 2025?
The Bears can now ride off into the 2025 NFL offseason with some optimism about how they finished the season, but there are questions ahead when it comes to the cornerback position on their roster — although, none of them about Johnson’s status with the team.
The largest question is about the starting spot opposite Johnson on the perimeter. The Bears entered the 2024 season feeling confident about 2023 second-round pick Tyrique Stevenson holding down the role, but he made a critical error giving up a touchdown to the Washington Commanders on their fateful Hail Mary play in Week 8 and seemed to struggle to regain his composure for the rest of the season, regularly having lapses.
The Bears are unlikely to give up on Stevenson after his sophomore slump, but they may consider bringing in some veteran competition for him and Terell Smith for the starting job opposite Johnson next season. D.J. Reed, Rasul Douglas and Mike Hilton are among the experienced names scheduled to hit the open market in early March.
The Bears must also decide whether they want to lock down standout slot cornerback Kyler Gordon on a long-term contract extension before his price grows further. Gordon — a 2022 second-round pick — shined in his third season with the Bears, notching 75 tackles, four tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, a half-sack and five pass breakups. He also became eligible to start negotiating a new deal after the win over the Packers.
The Bears will not lose Gordon if they do not sign him to a new deal before the 2025 season, but doing so could serve them well if they want to secure another vital asset.
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Bears CB Jaylon Johnson Sends 5-Word Message After Win Over Packers