Chicago Bears training camp: 5 Things we’ve learned so far

3. An injury affects the plans at cornerback

The Chicago Bears drafted cornerback Jaylon Johnson with the 50th overall pick in this year’s draft. The team hopes he and Kyle Fuller become one of the best cornerback tandems in the NFL.

Johnson, Kevin Toliver, and Artie Burns were in a battle for the starting cornerback spot vacated by the exit of Prince Amukamara. Burns, a first-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers, was trying to revive his career after steadily declining after a good rookie season. Toliver is a talented cornerback who had discipline problems at LSU. That resulted in him going undrafted. The Bears signed him. He’s been a good backup so far and performed well in two spot starts.

Despite the high hopes for Johnson, it appeared that the team wanted to ease him in. Burns was spending most of the practices with the starters. The plan likely was to have Burns start and hold that spot until Johnson showed he was ready to take over. Not having preseason games makes it tough for Johnson to show that he should win the battle. He and Toliver would battle for the backup role in the meantime.

Well, just like the plan the Bears had for quarterback Mitchell Trubisky in 2017 blew up, the plan for the cornerbacks is now different too. Early last week, Burns hurt his left knee. After having an MRI, they found that he tore his ACL. That means his career in Chicago is probably over. That also means that Johnson has a better shot to try to win the starter’s job.

Instead of bringing in another cornerback, the Bears brought in wide receiver Rodney Adams. That means they’re comfortable with who they have. Johnson and Toliver will now battle for the starting position. Despite not having preseason games to show what he has, he’ll have a better opportunity to impress the coaches enough to win the battle.