Cornerback Jaylon Johnson is Chicago Bears' only Pro Bowl selection for 2024 season

LAKE FOREST – It has been a disappointing season for the Chicago Bears. They are mired in a 10-game losing streak that has dropped their record to 4-12.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the team earned only one Pro Bowl nod. When the league announced the Pro Bowl selections Thursday morning, cornerback Jaylon Johnson’s name was on the list.

Johnson earned a starting spot for the NFC at cornerback. This is Johnson’s second Pro Bowl selection, following his first last season.

The Pro Bowl Games include a week of skills competitions, culminating in a flag football game between the AFC and NFC squads. This year, the Pro Bowl Games will be held Feb. 2 in Orlando.

Johnson joins Minnesota’s Byron Murphy as a starting cornerback for the NFC. Carolina’s Jaycee Horn and Seattle’s Devon Witherspoon also earned NFC spots at cornerback.

Pro Bowl spots are voted upon by the fans, the players and the coaches, with each group accounting for one-third of the vote. Johnson was not the top fan vote-getter among NFC cornerbacks (that would be Murphy), so he likely carried the vote from his peers and the coaches.

Johnson knew this season would be an uphill battle for him to earn a Pro Bowl spot because he hasn’t been targeted much. Opponents were afraid to throw the football near him, and that led to fewer opportunities to make game-changing plays.

With one game remaining, Johnson has two interceptions and seven passes defended this season. He has totaled 48 combined tackles, including seven tackles for loss.

“It’s hard with limited targets,” Johnson said this week. “I’m looking at the whole body of work. It’s hard to make plays on the ball when you barely get targeted. Just with that itself, that’s what gets you the Pro Bowl votes: making plays, having those interceptions and numbers and things like that. But I feel like overall I played solid. Definitely could’ve done some things better, but I did a lot of good, too.”

The voters seemed to agree.

According to the Bears, Johnson has been the least-targeted defender in the NFL among cornerbacks who started at least 13 games. Opponents have thrown his way only 52 times in 16 games.

Johnson is on track to start all 17 games this season, which would be a first for him over his five-year NFL career.

The Bears gave Johnson a four-year, $76 million contract extension in March. That followed a somewhat rocky 2023 season, when Johnson asked for a trade at the trade deadline. He ended up staying in Chicago and putting together a strong finish. Johnson earned Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors last year after grabbing four interceptions in 14 starts.

With three more years remaining on his contract, Johnson appears to be a foundational piece for general manager Ryan Poles' defense moving forward.

Johnson was among eight team captains for the 2024 Bears. He also reportedly was the player who stood up and went on a rant after the Bears lost in dramatic fashion to the Lions on Thanksgiving Day. That made it clear that former coach Matt Eberflus had lost the locker room. The Bears fired Eberflus the following day.

The Bears have one more game remaining Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. Then the focus will turn toward their coaching search.