Jaylon Johnson: ‘Me coming back is needed'

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The Bears will face their toughest challenge at the wide receiver position when they line up against Justin Jefferson on Sunday. It will be all hands on deck to contain him, and Jaylon Johnson knows that includes him, if he’s healthy enough to play.

“I feel like me coming back is needed,” Johnson said. “Not even just from a secondary standpoint, just being out there getting back with the team and giving the team a different confidence boost, things like that. So really just ready to be out there playing.”

Johnson was upgraded to a limited participant in Friday’s practice after missing the previous six practices with a quadriceps injury. He called it a big strep in the right direction towards playing.

“It’s big just being able to move with the team, go against other people vs. going out against air and things like that,” Johnson said. “Just being able to see where I’m at moving laterally, reacting and things like that.”

Officially, Johnson is doubtful to play against the Vikings. It’s understandable considering he’s only gotten in one limited practice this week, and hasn’t practiced in full since Wednesday of Week 3. But Matt Eberflus did leave the door open for Johnson to play on Sunday, saying the determination of whether a guy is in or out usually depends on how he looks in Friday’s practice, and he thought Johnson looked good this Friday.

“We don’t have that hard fast rule, but we like to see that guys come back Friday and move around,” Eberflus said. “It’s 48 hours before the game. We feel pretty good about it and we just let it progress from there and see where he is.”

“I can move pretty well,” Johnson said. “I’m doing really good and improving with a lot of my speed and my strength and things like that.

“Whenever I’m ready to play, there’s no doubt that I’ll be out there.”

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