Only 1 Chicago Bear makes NFC's Pro Bowl roster as ignoble season comes to a close
CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears may not be having a miracle season, but fans were dealt a small consolation Thursday after one of the beleaguered team's players was named to join this year's Pro Bowl Games.
Cornerback Jaylon Johnson was named to the 2025 roster, alongside fellow NFC North cornerback Byron Murphy, of the Vikings. The Carolina Panthers' Jaycee Horn and Seattle Seahawks' Devon Witherspoon also joined the cornerback group.
The NFL issued the complete rosters for the Pro Bowl on Thursday. The climax of the week-long football fest is a flag football game between the AFC and NFC.
Johnson also made the Pro Bowl roster last year, and is the first Bears cornerback to make back-to-back Pro Bowls since Kyle Fuller in 2018 and 2019. The last Bears player to make consecutive Pro Bowls was defensive end Khalil Mack, who was named to the Pro Bowl three years in a row from 2018 to 2020.
According to Pro Football Reference, Johnson has been targeted only 52 times this season, tied for 113th most in the NFL. He has allowed 34 completions for 461 yards and two touchdowns with an opposing quarterback rating of 90.3.
So far this season, through 16 games, Johnson has two interceptions, seven passes broken up, 48 tackles, and seven tackles for loss.
In five seasons with the Bears, Johnson has 209 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, seven interceptions, 48 passes broken up, three forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery in 69 starts.
Johnson is wrapping up his fifth year with the Bears. At the beginning of the season, he told CBS Chicago that he's "tired of upside and potential" and wanted to see the team "go out there and prove it."
Unfortunately, that was not the season that was for the Bears, who broke franchise precedent by firing head coach Matt Eberflus mid-season, after the team's high-profile Thanksgiving Day loss to the Lions. The Bears have lost 10 straight games, the second-longest losing streak in franchise history.
Among the NFC teams, the surging Detroit Lions had the most players named to the roster, with seven players overall. That was followed closely by the Minnesota Vikings, a franchise that gets to send six of its players.
Both of those teams are leading in the NFC North with 14-2 records, ahead of the Green Bay Packers (11-5) and, in last place, the Bears (4-12). The Lions and Vikings face off in a winner-takes-all match this Sunday night to determine who ends up as No. 1 seed going into the NFL postseason, with the other likely taking the Wild Card slot. Kickoff is set for 8:20 p.m. EST. That ticket is the most expensive in the NFL for the final week of the regular season.
The team with the overall highest number of players named was the AFC's Baltimore Ravens, with nine.
