Bears cornerback takes blatant shot at Matt Nagy era, lauds new culture

Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson praised the new coaching staff in Chicago by taking a massive shot at the culture problems in the Matt Nagy era.

The Matt Nagy era started out so promisingly in 2018 when the rookie head coach was named Coach of the Year and the Bears went 12-4.

After that successful first season, things fell apart for Nagy so thoroughly that he’s still taking a beating even after being fired after the 2021 season.

The latest shot was unleashed by Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson.

Bears cornerback takes a blatant shot at Matt Nagy era

“The way they hold us accountable is crazy, compared to what we’re used to,” Johnson said of the new coaching staff as training camp began on Tuesday, per Adam Hoge of CHGO Sports.

Culture problems within the organization have been placed squarely at Nagy’s feet since he was unceremoniously axed in January. Lack of accountability is pretty clearly something that didn’t go over well.

Johnson spent two seasons under Nagy’s regime after being drafted in the second round out of Utah in 2020. While he spent the last two years emerging as a key figure in the secondary, the team looked stuck in neutral, going 8-8 in 2020 and 6-11 in 2021.

He said the new coaching staff has put more of an emphasis on “hard-nosed” football, per Sean Hammond of Bears Insider.

New head coach Matt Eberflus is tasked with turning things around in Chicago while building around Justin Fields. The defense-minded coach may be the right counter to Nagy, who was offense-focused and considered too soft to consistently produce a strong team.