The Chicago Bears are now 1-1 after a week-two loss to the Houston Texans, which didn’t come as too much of a surprise to the NFL world as the Texans were favored by a touchdown.
The Bears had a chance to win with the ball in their hands and only a one-score deficit to overcome, but it is now being revealed that Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson could’ve played a larger role in the loss than initially thought.
Johnson is one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL and he is an anchor on the Bears defense that has already proven it can be the deciding factor in games like their week-one win over the Tennessee Titans.
Johnson is graded as the 8th best defensive back in coverage by Pro Football Focus with an 81.0 overall grade. Although it has only been two weeks, it is a continuation of what Johnson has been able to do since coming into the league in 2020. More specifically, it is a continuation of Johnson’s career-best season in 2023 in which he allowed a 47.8 passer rating when targeted.
While Johnson may have allowed Houston Texans wide receiver Nico Collins to make his way into the endzone, he was not covering him at the time.
Johnson gave up 0 touchdowns in coverage in the matchup with the Texans and the Titans, but it is what happened off the field that may have contributed to the Bears’ loss. Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud approached Johnson and told him to stop giving away his secrets on podcasts.
Johnson was talking to legendary Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman on a podcast and discussed how he baited a quarterback into throwing an interception by biting down on a quick in route while playing in a palms coverage.
Are NFL players like Chicago Bears CB Jaylon Johnson saying too much on podcasts?
Johnson’s appearance on a podcast is not a rarity amongst the NFL players of the modern day. A plethora of NFL players either have their own podcasts or consistently make appearances on other people’s podcasts.
Kansas City Chiefs star tight end Travis Kelce and his brother, now-retired former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce, have one of the biggest podcasts in the world. Their podcast, “New Heights,” consistently ranks as the top weekly sports podcast on Apple and Spotify according to the New York Times.
Jason said the model he and his brother use provides the path for other players in the NFL in the same New York Times article.
“I think it’s fun and guys will keep doing it as long as there’s a thirst from the audience,” Jason Kelce said. “It feels like that’s the model a lot of guys are going to.”
The Kelce brothers would come out with a podcast every week evaluating what went wrong or what went right in their most recent games. Fans love the inside look, but it can lead to situations like Johnson’s where too much information is revealed.
Either way, it doesn’t look like player involvement in the podcast world is going to slow down anytime soon.
