Bear Digest

Ben Johnson's vote of confidence boosts one defender's future status

The Bears continue finding players who can contribute with key plays throughout all of the defensive injuries they have, and one in particular has caught their coach's favor.
Gene Chamberlain|
Nahshon Wright (26) celebrates with teammates after his interception at Minnesota.
Nahshon Wright (26) celebrates with teammates after his interception at Minnesota. | Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The moment could arrive in the next few days when the Bears have tough decisions to make in their secondary based on the standout play of backups.

Cornerback Jaylon Johnson could return to face Philadelphia Friday and so could slot cornerback Kyler Gordon.

Johnson’s backup, Nahshon Wright, not only has played gradually better throughout the season but now he is tied for the NFL lead in interceptions with teammate Kevin Byard at five.

However, even though Jaylon Johnson is a two-time Pro Bowl cornerback, they’re not going to keep him sidelined.  They have a similar situation at slot cornerback with Gordon returning but C.J. Gardner-Johnson performing like a starter.

”That's the fun part isn't it?” Ben Johnson said Monday morning.

You can't just stick the NFL interceptions leader in a role on special teams and be done with it. It doesn't make much sense.

Wright had started only three games before this season as he bounced around from Dallas to Minnesota and now the Bears over five seasons. He wasn’t even an active player in a game last year but now he has started Bears games and it appears they have something in him they didn’t plan on as he’s giving up only 59.3% completions and a 77.7 passer rating when targeted per Stathead/Pro Football Reference. Pro Football Focus gave him a 31.9 passer rating against in Sunday's win, best by any Bears defender.

Wright has one more interception than Johnson has ever made in a season and his passer rating against is better than all but one of Johnson's best in a season.

“He's done a phenomenal job and I think he has certainly earned playing time," Ben Johnson said.

How this could work can depend on the health of the other starting cornerback. Tyrique Stevenson has been working through a hip injury and on Sunday re-injured it.  Could it be Wright has opportunity knock on the other side? Or would they move Johnson to the defense’s left side instead of the right side where he has traditionally played.

Johnson also has always been a shadow for an opponent’s top receiver,  and they could tak this into account. Would they want him doing this again after recovering quickly from surgery for a groin injury?

Whatever gets decided, the Bears cannot complain about how all of their subs have performed, and particularly Wright, known to all of them as Shonny.

His leaping interception in front of DK Metcalf on the Steelers’ first pass seemed to validate what the coaches have been saying about him.

“Shonny’s interception was one of the most athletic plays and phenomenal catches I’ve seen in a long time,” Johnson said. “So, and, not to mention, I think what’s undersung about what Shonny’s doing right now is how much he’s influencing the run game as well.

“He’s coming up, he’s tackling the ball carrier. You know, they’re throwing bubble screens and he’s knifing through and making a play there. So he’s really playing sound football, run game and pass game included.

Pro Football Focus’ run grades disagree, but then again what value those have seems in question. They have him graded as their fourth-worst run stopper among regular players, but the three worse than him are defensive tackles Andrew Billings, Gervon Dexter and Grady Jarrett.  

They have allowed only 123 rushing yards a game over the last seven and 55 of Pittsburgh’s yards came on a trick fake tush push.

So don’t expect Wright to quickly fade away. The Bears can afford to get Stevenson healthy now, although it’s uncertain if Wright is capable of being as effective on the defense’s left side as he has been on the right side.

Either way, having both Wright and Gardner-Johnson who could rotate in or fill hybrid type roles is a huge asset for a coaching staff that has been forced to deal with manpower shortages on defense throughout the entire season.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.