Bears CB Jaylon Johnson’s groin injury causes major concern for ailing defense

The Bears have a serious concern as they continue to evaluate top cornerback Jaylon Johnson. After missing all of the preseason and the opening game with a groin injury, he got hurt again Sunday in the Bears’ 52-21 loss to the Lions.
 
Johnson leaped to deflect a pass in the second quarter, then fell to the turf and stayed facedown while trainers checked him. He was shortly ruled out for the rest of the game with a groin injury.

Head coach Ben Johnson said Monday that the team was still “gathering home information” about the injuries. Options could include surgery and a months-long absence.

Johnson said Sunday’s groin injury was unrelated to the one that kept him out of training camp. Johnson said recently on an episode of The Pivot podcast that the injury was more severe than the Bears initially indicated. Johnson said the adductor muscle tore off his pelvic bone on one of his last days of training at UNLV before he was set to report to Halas Hall.

For a defense that has struggled the first two weeks, the possibility of losing Johnson for extended time is a huge problem. If the Bears put him on injured reserve this week, he would be out a minimum of four games and couldn’t come back until their Week 8 game at the Ravens.

Ben Johnson said that linebacker T.J. Edwards and cornerback Kyler Gordon, who have hamstring injuries, are “week-to-week.” Edwards missed Week 1 with a hamstring injury and left the game with a hamstring problem.

With Johnson missing most of the game Sunday, the Bears allowed Lions quarterback Jared Goff to complete 23 of 28 passes for 334 yards and five touchdowns for a 156 passer rating. Wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams each topped 100 yards.

The Bears host the Cowboys on Sunday, and they come in fifth in the NFL at 30 points per game. Quarterback Dak Prescott has completed 68.6% of his passes, averaged 274.5 yards per game and has an 88.8 passer rating.