To Jaylon Johnson, Aaron Rodgers’ praise means he’s heading in the right direction

Aaron Rodgers knows to stay away from Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson.

Rodgers didn’t throw a single ball in Johnson’s direction when the Bears and Packers first squared off in Week 2. He stayed away from the third-year cornerback again during Sunday’s win over the Bears, 28-19.

Entering Week 13, Johnson had been targeted just 35 times in nine games, per Pro Football Reference. Rodgers praised Johnson after the game Sunday.

“Jaylon is a super talented player,” Rodgers said.

He went on to call Johnson “a premier player.” Rodgers had plenty of other young defensive backs to target Sunday – the Bears were without four starters in the secondary. Johnson was the only regular starter who played. Rookies Elijah Hicks, Jaylon Jones and Josh Blackwell all saw significant action.

For Johnson, hearing those words from the four-time MVP is confirmation that he is on the right track in his career.

“I take pride in stuff like that,” Johnson said Monday. “I play the game with a lot of pride and respect. Getting interceptions isn’t the only way to impact the game, isn’t the only way to get respect, isn’t the only way to, as he said, be a premier player. Your peers validate you. Not the media. Not the outside people looking in.”

Johnson hasn’t had any interceptions this season, but he has forced a fumble, totaled 29 tackles and defended four passes.

The cornerback position is usually defined by interceptions and plays on the ball. The players with the most interceptions usually wind up in the Pro Bowl and on All-Pro lists. As a student of the position, Johnson knows there’s so much more to being a great corner. The fact that his opponents see him as a threat, even without the interceptions in his stat line, reinforces that.

“Am I a Pro Bowl-caliber player? Hell yeah,” Johnson said. “But I feel like it comes with the picks, the picks are looked at as highlight plays – no matter if it’s a tipped pick, you were beat on a play, the dude falls to the ground, ball pops up. You get two or three of those, ‘Oh yeah, he’s good guy, he’s got three picks.’”

The Bears probably won’t have a lot of Pro Bowlers because of their 3-10 record. It’s hard to say anyone on this defense deserves to be in that discussion. Safety Eddie Jackson was leading the NFC voting at the free safety position when the league released the first voting update last week, but he has since suffered a season-ending injury.

“If you have a top unit, then your name starts to get tossed in there more,” head coach Matt Eberflus said. “I believe that to be true, that you get more recognition when your unit plays really good.”

Johnson likely caught Rodgers’ eye last year, when he played well against Davante Adams in a December game at Lambeau Field. The Packers had to be creative to scheme up ways for Adams to match up with other defensive backs.

“I feel like it’s just what I believe in myself and [Rodgers has] been able to see that watching film and playing against me over the last few years,” Johnson said.

The Bears should hopefully have some reinforcements back in the secondary following the bye week. Cornerback Kyler Gordon and safety Jaquan Brisker missed back-to-back games due to concussions. Corner Kindle Vildor sat out with an ankle injury.