Bears Exploring Outside Alternatives at Cornerback
Jaylon Johnson and Kevin Toliver have been left to battle for the starting cornerback spot for now.
The Bears at least are considering other cornerbacks to replace Artie Burns after his torn ACL, but their first move to fill the roster spot was signing former Colts and Giants receiver Rodney Adams and not a defensive back.
Adams is a fifth-round Vikings draft pick who has been in one NFL game after being picked in 2017. He was with the Vikings one game, then on their practice squad. Then he was cut and moved on to the Colts.
Adams suffered a knee injury and actually had retired but was reinstated this year.
In the meantime, they had three defensive backs in for tryouts among a group of six on the defensive side according to Howard Balzer of AllCardinal.com
On of the three is undrafted 27-year-old free agent Briean Boddy-Calhoun, who intercepted three passes as a Browns rookie in 2016 and has started 22 games, including 21 with the Browns. He played last year in five games with the Colts and Texans.
Former Cardinals cornerback Brandon Williams played in 45 games from 2016-18 but had just three starts. He was a third-round draft pick in 2016.
The other cornerback was Howard Wilson, a fourth-round Browns pick in 2017 who had the misfortune of suffering a factured patella on the second day of rookie camp in 2017 and went on the physically unable to perform list. When Wilson tried coming back from that injury, he suffered a torn patellar tendon and went on injured reserve. He's more than a year removed from those injuries now.
For now Toliver is playing the position with the first team, but defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend said it's likely he'll move Jaylon Johnson into that spot for a look soon, as well.
Toliver has been with the Bears two years, so he didn't exactly welcome the drafting of Johnson as competition.
"I was motivated a lot," Toliver said Thursday. "I always had a chip on my shoulder since I've been here. It's just a competition thing. I'm not afraid of competition. I don't think nobody on this team is afraid of competition."
Johnson has been brought along slowly due to the offseason surgery he had, and admits it's tough to be patient through it.
"Yeah definitely you see everybody out here competing, competing and you just want to be a part of it all entirely," he said. "For me, it's just staying true to myself and knowing who I am and what I am able to do and then just trusting the staff and trusting the trainers and everything like that just that they are protecting me and I am good for the long run."
The three other defensive players brought in for tryouts were former Bucs tackle Terry Beckner, former Giants tackle Jay Bromley and former Seattle tackle Nazair Jones.
Beckner is 6-4, 305 pounds and was a seventh-round pick last year. Bromley is 6-3, 297 and was a third-round pick in 2014. Jones is 6-5, 304 and was a third-round pick in 2017.
Bromley was with the 49ers and Saints briefly after playing in 55 games with four starts over five seasons with the Giants.
Jones missed 2019 with a training camp knee injury after making two sacks and playing in 20 games with two starts in two Seattle seasons.
Beckner had been on the Tampa Bay practice squad, was but suspended for four games for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing substances and was cut.
