The Chicago Bears have lost two defensive stars — and captains — over the last week. Chicago traded Robert Quinn to the Philadelphia Eagles last Wednesday and traded Roquan Smith to the Baltimore Ravens on Monday.
GM Ryan Poles acquired three additional draft selections for 2023 — in the second, fourth and fifth rounds — to help him rebuild this roster. They were the kind of moves that weren’t unexpected with a rebuilding team.
With the Bears defense coming off its worst performance of the season after losing Quinn — a 49-29 drumming — it’s hard to imagine things get any better after Smith’s departure.
Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson joined the Parkins & Spiegel Show on Monday, where he sounded off on Smith’s trade just hours after it happened.
“It’s hard to put into words what my reaction was,” Johnson said. “When big things like that happen, I really don’t have a reaction. It’s more so a series of thoughts…I felt his value throughout this organization, not only on the field…He’s not anybody that can be replaced. We lost a big thing today…There’s more to it. There’s some decisions that need to be made, and they’re not easy decisions.”
While the Bears defense suffered a huge blow with the losses of Smith and Quinn, there’s a personal component to these transactions. For Johnson, he lost two teammates and friends over the course of six days.
“It’s just a feeling that you have,” Johnson said. “We have all those people that just feel like they have a big role in your life. Not anything they do deliberately, it’s just them themselves. Rob, not too many understood Rob…The man signed a huge contract and came in [his true authentic self]…Rob was just the OG…Just who he was authentically, there was never a day where he was faking it. He’s been through things where he knows life can be taken at any moment…With Roquan, I could say the same thing. He has an outgoing personality. There was never a day where Ro came in and didn’t have a smile on his face.”
While the losses of Smith and Quinn are rough, Johnson is motivated to step into a leadership role.
“To see a lot of people who I came in with exit the building, it’s going to push me to do better and be one of those guys I looked up to,” he said. “There’s a lot of opportunity that is presenting itself.”
“We have to figure out a way to keep going,” Johnson said. “…Miami don’t care about Roquan…Robert Quinn, they’re going to try to come in and go crazy. We’re going to have to put our foot down and fight back.”
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