The way C.J. Gardner-Johnson sees it, Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s biggest challenge — folding Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon back into his cornerbacks room — won’t turn out to be much of one at all.
“He’s just putting the best players in the best positions,” Gardner-Johnson said after Friday’s 24-15 win against the Eagles. “We’re all good in our own ways. To have Kyler back, to have Jaylon back, it adds more versatility. We can play more man, we can blitz more, we can drop in coverage. It gives a different look each time we go out there.
“To be honest with you, it makes it easy for him to make the play call. He asks how we’re feeling, and we give him how we’re feeling.”
They felt good Friday, when Allen played dime defense — with six defensive backs — a whopping 23 times. He did it 10 times on third down; the Eagles converted only three of them, all when they trailed by 15 in the game’s final five minutes.
It will be fascinating to see how Allen continues to use what has become a luxurious glut of cornerbacks, particularly with his entire starting linebacker corps having missed the last two games.
Allen’s goal is to put his best 11 players on the field. Four of them are cornerbacks. Consider:
• Outside cornerback Nahshon Wright, who ripped the ball away from Jalen Hurts on his third-quarter “Tush Push,” leads all NFL defenders with three fumble recoveries and is tied for second with five interceptions. On a one-year, $1.1 million deal, Wright might be the best value in all of football.
• Gardner-Johnson has three sacks in five games with the Bears. Only one NFL defensive back has more during the entire season. The Bears are getting more than they expected from the slot cornerback, whom they signed a month ago Saturday because of his familiarity with Allen’s defense. Like Wright, he never left the field Friday.
• Johnson, a two-time Pro Bowl player, returned from groin surgery Sunday and started the game. He played 61% of the Bears’ snaps Friday, a rate that will go up as his conditioning improves. He’s played only two games all year but is widely considered their best defensive player.
• Gordon played 67% of the downs, rotating between outside cornerback and the slot. Gordon, who has played only three games because of hamstring and calf injuries, was the only player Allen cited in his introductory press conference. Three months later, he got a contract extension.
That list doesn’t include Tyrique Stevenson, who ranks eighth in the NFL in pass breakups but missed Friday’s game with a hip injury, or super-sub Nick McCloud, who played 19% of the time against the Eagles.
“I feel like we’ve really not even peaked at all yet,” Johnson said. “I feel like just really kinda get a rhythm of things, see who goes where.
“You’ve got a lot more to see from [Allen] — and see where this defense can really go.”
Gordon has had fun watching Allen present his game plan every week — “You get excited about it,” he said — and presumes his defensive coordinator will get even more creative now that his cornerbacks room is almost back to full strength.
“It helps disguise different looks, a multitude of things. …” he said. “A lot of advantages.”
For coach Ben Johnson, Johnson and Gordon returning Friday was an important first step for the rest of the Bears season — and for a defense that has given up 20 points or fewer in three of its last four games.
“It was just great to get their feet wet,” coach Ben Johnson said Friday night. “I’ll be curious to see what that tape looks like. … I can’t wait to see how tight that coverage was. It’ll be a good stepping stone for us to build upon going forward.”