LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Jaylon Johnson is frustrated.
That was evident in his Monday press conference following the Chicago Bears‘ 30-27 overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings at Soldier Field.
“Of course it’s getting high,” Johnson said. “We’re on a what, four or five-game losing streak? So I mean none of this ideal. Nobody walks around – well, I don’t walk around with a smile on my face. There ain’t nothin’ to be happy about. So, I mean, obviously my frustration is at a high. Everybody’s frustration is at a high.”
Frustration is inevitable when a team has gone 43 days since its last victory. But these winless streaks aren’t new to Johnson, who was drafted by the Bears in the second round out of Utah in 2020.
During Johnson’s rookie season, the Bears went 56 days without a victory, from Oct. 18 to Dec. 13. In 2021, there was a 46-day drought. The following season, when the Bears won three games, the team’s last victory occurred on October 24, 2022 against the Patriots. The Bears lost their final 10 games that season and didn’t secure their first win until Week 5 of the 2023 season against the Commanders. 346 total days passed.
It’s been worse for Johnson, but just because the veteran cornerback has experienced his fair share of losing streaks, this latest one doesn’t make it easier to cope with. And Johnson doesn’t see this current five-game winless skid any differently than the previous ones.
“I mean, like I said, I don’t do all the hopes and dreams and all that,” Johnson said. “At the end of the day like I’ve been saying for a very long time, we got to win on Sunday. So I mean, right now, we’re in a slump. I’ve been in slumps four, five years in a row now. So, I mean, at the end of the day, I don’t look for, ‘Ok, what is going to be better in the future?’ God damnit. It will be better when it’s better. So, right now, it’s not better. That’s all I can go off of.”
Since the Bears defeated the Jaguars in London in Week 6, the defense has shown all types of lapses. In the five-game losing streak, opposing offenses have averaged 23.2 points per game, quarterbacks have averaged 251 passing yards, and opponents have averaged 151 rushing yards.
Johnson was asked why the defense hasn’t been able to meet the bar the unit believed it could achieve this season.
“Umm, I would honestly say it starts with the up front in the run,” Johnson said. “I feel like we’ve been giving up a lot of run yards and then I feel like explosive plays really been killing us. I think overall, outside of that, we’re good. Third down we’re good, in red zone. I think just those two things have held us back from being who we know we can be.”
In the ultimate team sport, it’s tough to appreciate small victories when the end goal is winning the game. For Johnson, that even applies when looking at what Caleb Williams has been able to do in the last two games against the Packers and Vikings. The rookie quarterback has completed 55 of 78 passes for 571 yards, two touchdowns and has committed zero turnovers.
“I mean at the end of the day, he can’t win the damn game by himself,” Johnson said. “So, it’s not about Caleb. It’s not, I mean of course, we need and want him to play good. We need and want everybody to play good, so him having a good performance for two weeks straight doesn’t give me hope for the future because we all got to win. It takes all 11 guys on the field to win.”
Since Johnson was drafted, the Bears are 28-50. Johnson isn’t aiming for moral victories. He wants to win, and nobody should blame him for that.
