Can Jaylon Johnson secure starting cornerback job in time for Week 1?

When Jaylon Johnson enrolled at Utah in 2017, he knew what he was heading into. The Fresno, California, native knew what the Utes' depth chart looked like at cornerback.

He went on to play in 10 games as a true freshman.

"It was just about learning my assignment and perfecting my technique, and that's something I did throughout my whole career," Johnson said.

Three years later, Johnson finds himself in a similar position.

The Bears drafted Johnson in the second round (50th overall) in April's draft to play cornerback on one of the top defenses in the NFL. The team also brought in veteran Artie Burns to vie for the starting cornerback position.

Burns recently went down with a torn ACL, ending his season. All of the sudden, the position appears to be Johnson's to lose.

"I've always felt like I was ready, even in college," Johnson said. "I prepared my whole life. Everything I been doing was to be ready for this situation. Now, coming into it, and it being real, I feel like everything I've worked for, everything I been doing all these years just came to pass."

Johnson called Burns' injury "terrible." The team officially placed Burns on injured reserve Thursday and signed receiver Rodney Adams to fill his spot.

Third-year cornerback Kevin Toliver, who joined the team as an undrafted free agent in 2018, is also competing for the position. Toliver played in 12 games last season and started one against the Dallas Cowboys. Also in the mix is veteran Buster Skrine, who played in all 16 games in 2019 and started four.

The lingering question is whether Johnson has enough time, with no preseason games, to prepare himself to start an NFL game in about three weeks.

The Bears integrated linebacker Roquan Smith pretty seamlessly in 2018, and that was after Smith held out for much of training camp. Cornerback is a little bit different, though.

Mistakes tend to be more glaring.

"I play the corner position," Johnson said. "You're going to get beat. ... For me, it's just about having that confidence that I'm going to get the next one back or that I'm going to make a play and make up for it. I'm not concerned when that situation does come."

Defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano said entering training camp that the Bears are going about the cornerback position as a true position battle. Reps are being split evenly.

Secondary coach Deshea Townsend said this week that Skrine, a versatile defensive back, could play the position. Toliver is a player who the Bears coaches seem to like, but who remains relatively untested. Toliver said he did everything he could over the offseason to understand the defense as a whole, not only his position.

Though he's not a safety, Toliver listened in on Zoom meetings with the safeties, something Pro Bowl cornerback Kyle Fuller suggested he do.

"You've got to pick your leverage, know where you're at, know where your help is at, just got to know the whole defense and it will just make the whole game easier for you," Toliver said. "I feel like I had to apply that to my game."

Toliver said he was motivated when the Bears took a cornerback so high in the draft.

Still, the Bears drafted Johnson for a reason. Johnson believes he has transitioned well to the speed of the game through the early weeks of camp.

"I felt really good from what I have been able to do, just going out there and being able to compete," Johnson said. "The speed hasn't been too shocking for me. It's been really easy to adjust to. It's just about learning the game."