Now that the dust has settled following their heartbreaking loss to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving, Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson joined 670 The Score to give his side of the story on what happened between him and former head coach Matt Eberflus.
“I don’t really give a damn about too much of it,” Johnson said when asked how he felt about his name being attached to Eberflus’ firing. “It’s just one of those things where at some point, enough is enough. I mean, it’s not my first go-around. It’s not my first rodeo with firing and things like that. It’s a business. Guys get fired all the time. Player, coach, GM, it happens. So, I mean— again— I don’t necessarily feel like I was just some major part that played a role in getting [Eberflus] fired. That’s not on me.
But, there was frustration. There was words from myself that I expressed just from my frustrations of losing. I mean, I’ve been losing for five years. I feel like a high-level player like— after a certain point— losing games how we’ve been losing games, somebody has to express something. From me, it was something that was a spur-of-the-moment thing, and it went the way it went.”
So, while Johnson didn’t get into the nitty-gritty details of what was said, there was an explicit understanding that the Pro Bowl cornerback was fed up with the way the Bears were losing games.
Bears CB Jaylon Johnson’s outburst not focused on Matt Eberflus
Though some speculated that Johnson’s post-game outburst was directed solely at the ex-head coach, the corner explained his side of the story, though not all the details were crystal clear.
“Honestly, I can’t even give you the details because it was one of those situations where it just got to that point where you don’t really remember everything that was said,” Johnson said. “At the end of the day, it was just based around frustrations of losing.”
And given the circumstances of the losses Johnson has been a part of under Eberflus, his frustrations are valid. The Bears have been victims of multiple historic losses under Eberflus, as Johnson has been a member of the team through each one of them.
After spending five seasons with the Bears, he’s been on the team longer than most of their roster. So, while rookies Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze could be frustrated with how things have gone through their first 12 games, Johnson’s been going through it since 2020.
