LAKE FOREST, Ill. — With the start of the 2024 NFL season just three days away, the excitement for all 32 teams is exactly where it should be: Sky high with optimism.
There isn’t anything wrong with having a positive outlook, but Jaylon Johnson isn’t falling for it. The Chicago Bears‘ cornerback heads into his fifth season, and has been a part of teams that have felt good about their potential.
“I mean for me I’m done buying into the hype, honestly,” Johnson said. “I mean, I feel like I’ve said it plenty of times I’ve had some pretty good rosters and plenty of talented people in the locker rooms. Some times where, ‘Oh yeah, this is our year. This is our year.’ So I mean everything we have in his locker room sounds good, it seems good, but I’ve seen it, but at the end of the day, none of that matters. What matters is what we’re going to do this weekend and from every Sunday or Monday, whatever game it is.
“That’s when it matters. So I mean the preseason hype for me don’t move me. I mean Caleb, I mean everybody we all have to come in here and we got to work. I mean just top to bottom, myself, I mean, new contract year, that don’t mean nothing no more. We got to come in here and we got to go to work.”
If the biggest talking points for a team happen before a regular season game is played, that tells you everything you need to know about how the year went. Johnson is tired of that being the case. Since he was drafted by the Bears in the second round in 2020, the team has a 24-43 record.
The team can add another much-needed victory to that overall record with a strong performance against the Tennessee Titans at Soldier Field in Week 1, which is something Johnson is looking forward to doing.
“Winning is important,” he said. “So I mean our first opportunity is Week 1, so that’s very much so important to get off to a fast start because that’s the only opportunity we got so far. So I mean just for us, we start off 1-0, we have started off 0-1 before. I mean it doesn’t really change things for us. I mean we want to go 1-0 each and every week and we get the first opportunity to do that.”
Bears react to Caleb Williams being named a captain
Caleb Williams has an opportunity to become a lot of “firsts” for the Bears organization. He’s already become the first rookie to be named a season-long captain for the organization, according to ESPN.
This distinction wasn’t just given to Williams, but it was earned.
“I haven’t had that before,” Eberflus said. “But again, I put it to a vote. I had it with offense and defense, and had the guys rank those guys and he came out really high. All those guys did. That’s what’s great about it. And we had other guys that had great votes, too, just not enough to get into that captain’s vote. But that’s a really good sign that he’s got leadership throughout the entire team.”
For DJ Moore, who has been working with Williams even before he officially become a Bear, he saw why the rookie quarterback was voted a captain.
“He went out there and proved himself, took command of the offense,” Moore said. “He started opening up. People say that and we’re rocking with him.”
Moore was able to see Williams’ leadership skills grow each and every day at training camp, competing against the defense and against the Bills and Bengals.
Johnson, who was a part of a Bears defense that was tasked with making things difficult for Williams throughout training camp, also thought the rookie quarterback was deserving of being a captain as a rookie.
“He just continues to come in here and be who we want him to be,” Johnson said. “I feel like we know why we brought him in here and I feel like he continues to do that, continues to walk in those shoes and just continues to reset the bar for himself. I feel like it’s just a step in the right direction for him. I don’t think it’s a bit of a surprise coming in here being QB1.”
DJ Moore isn’t concerned about the outside perception
Moore had a career year last season with his 96 receptions, 1,364 yards and eight touchdown catches. His 1,364 receiving yards were the sixth-most in the league in 2023. Despite putting up those numbers, Moore was left off the NFL’s Top 100 List — which had 20 receivers.
Moore isn’t concerned with how he is perceived around the league.
“I know I’m top 10,” Moore said. “But it be known? People say anything about it or I be on lists? Probably not. Do I care? No.”
When Moore was asked why he thinks he may not be recognized, the veteran receiver had a few thoughts.
“Because I’m not one of those people that do all the antics,” he said. “Like, if y’all catch me and y’all see me out there doing little silly stuff, I’m not gonna do that on a major stage on Sunday night. That’s not me. I do it with my teammates. I’m not going to go out there and look crazy.”
Moore is far more concerned about where his team ends up at the end of the season. Despite being drafted in 2018, Moore has still yet to reach the postseason. And like Johnson, he isn’t going to buy into the hype and needs to see how things play out once the games are played.
“We gotta get through week one, week two, week three, four, five, six, seven,” Moore said. “At the end of the year, we’ll know if that anticipation was correct or wrong. What the record is at the end of the year is what it is. Hopefully, it’s on the winning side and we’re in the postseason and we can have this conversation smiling.”
