Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had high praise for Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson following Green Bay’s 28-19 win over Chicago on Sunday.
Rodgers called Johnson “a premier player” after the game, even though he didn’t have a flashy game (he totaled two tackles). Johnson attributes the praise to his past performance against former Packers wideout Davante Adams last season. Johnson shut down Adams in the first half of a meeting last December before Green Bay moved Adams around to get a more favorable matchup.
“I take pride in stuff like that,” Johnson said, via the Sun-Times, of Rodgers’ compliment. “I play the game with a lot of pride and respect. Getting interceptions isn’t the only way to impact the game [or] get respect. Your peers validate you. Not the media. Not the outside people looking in. They respect me coming into that game and they respect me leaving that game as well [as] what I put on film, based on my abilities.
“To me it’s not about popularity. It’s about what my peers believe of me — my team, the quarterbacks and people on the offensive side that I play against.”
Well, it’s a good thing popularity isn’t important to Johnson. He’s probably not going to make the Pro Bowl because hasn’t made splash plays (he has zero interceptions on the year) and is on a 3-10 team.
“Pro Bowl comes from popularity,” Johnson said. “And popularity comes from making highlight plays. I wouldn’t feel I’ve had enough highlight plays to be able to say, ‘I’m a Pro Bowl player.’
“[Do] I think I’m a Pro Bowl caliber player? Hell, yeah. But that comes with picks. The picks are looked at as highlight plays, no matter if it’s a tipped pick, you were beat on the play, the dude falls to the ground, the ball pops up — you get two or three of those, [and people say], ‘Oh, yeah he’s a good guy. He’s got three picks.’ But you were beat. I haven’t been in those [situations]. I haven’t gotten any tipped picks. I haven’t gotten all those opportunities.”
For now, the respect from his peers will have to do.
