Chicago Bears starting cornerback Jaylon Johnson took another step closer to playing against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 14 at November 20’s practice.
According to the team’s injury report, the Bears upgraded Johnson to a full participant for Thursday’s practice, marking the first time that he has practiced without limitations since before he injured his core muscle during September 14’s loss to the Detroit Lions.
Johnson returned to practice in a limited capacity last Friday after the Bears designated him for return from injured reserve and opened his 21-day practice window. The Bears even listed him as questionable to play in their final injury report for Week 11’s matchup with the Minnesota Vikings, but they downgraded him to out the day before kickoff.
Now that Johnson is back at practice in a full capacity, though, it would seem as though the two-time Pro Bowler has a better shot at returning to the field against the Steelers.
The Bears will decide whether to put an injury designation on Johnson on Friday when they issue their final injury report for Week 12’s matchup with the Steelers, but they can make him a game-decision for Sunday’s 1 p.m. ET kickoff, if they do not rule him out.
Jaylon Johnson’s Return Should Provide Defensive Boon
Despite Johnson’s improvement at practice, the Bears might not rush him back into the lineup this week. They seemed intentional with the timing of Johnson’s designation for return, opening his practice window on November 14 to put the deadline for activating him back to the 53-man roster just before Week 14’s game with the Green Bay Packers.
That is likely the Bears’ ideal target for Johnson, who is not only working back from a core-muscle surgery but is also trying to get his conditioning back to acceptable ranges after practicing very little over the last four months. After all, he also missed all of the team’s training camp and the first game of the regular season with a groin injury.
Whenever Johnson is back, though, he should provide a significant boon to the Bears’ inconsistent defense as they look to make the most of their 7-3 start and division lead.
The Bears have dominated in terms of takeaways through the first 11 weeks of the 2025 season, leading the league with 15 interceptions as a team and touting all three of the top interceptions leaders. Their pass defense ranks in the bottom third of the league, though, giving up 231.3 yards per game with their injury-hampered secondary unit.
Trading out Nahshon Wright — or, perhaps, Tyrique Stevenson — for Johnson on the perimeter should help the Bears improve in that arena. Johnson is one of the league’s most consistent coverage cornerbacks and, once he gets settled in with Dennis Allen, could start to see his ball production tip upward with more man-coverage looks.
Kyler Gordon Stays Limited After Return to Practice
In other cornerback news, Bears slot defender Kyler Gordon practiced on Thursday for a second consecutive day after the team designated him for return on November 19.
Gordon is still limited in practice and listed with a calf injury on the injury report, but the Bears indicated that they expected Gordon’s stint on IR would be on the shorter end when they placed him on the injury list on October 25. If that is still the case, then the Bears could activate him sooner than 21 days — perhaps even in time for this week.
The Bears also had six players who didn’t participate in Thursday’s practice: linebackers Tremaine Edmunds (groin), T.J. Edwards (hand/hamstring) and Noah Sewell (elbow), running backs Travis Homer (hamstring/knee) and Roschon Johnson (thumb) and veteran left guard Joe Thuney (non-injury-related/veteran rest day).
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