Bears star cornerback Jaylon Johnson recently hopped on former NFL cornerback Richard Sherman's podcast, "The Richard Sherman Podcast."
During the podcast, Sherman referenced Johnson's interception against the Vikings during Week 12 of the 2023 regular season. When Johnson broke down the play for Sherman, the latter couldn't contain his reaction to the level of difficulty of Johnson's play.
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Here's how Johnson broke down his thinking behind the play.
"I've seen the formation, so in my head, I'm like 'I know I'm to the field and he [the quarterback] sees me off," Johnson said. "He's probably gonna try to bang this five-yard in. But I already knew it was a five-yard in with a seven (yard out) behind it. So I'm kinda seeing it and in my head, I'm like 'Nah, I'm gonna make a play.' I don't like just catching that little pass and tackling it.
"I'm like 'If he throws this short route, I'm gonna drive it.' So sure enough, he caught it, boom, he looked and I took off. I saw him pump (fake) so I'm like 'Damn, I gotta get out of there and help and get back.' I stuck my foot in the ground got under and he threw it up. I'm like 'Oh, I got him!' And I took him. Everybody (was) like seeing it and was like 'Oh yeah, Cover 2's great, high-low.'
"I'm like, 'Nah, I was being greedy.' I was tryna make a play."
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Sherman's reaction during Johnson's recollection says it all.
"You did that out of palms?!"
Palms, in essence, is a variation of Cover 2 defense that asks the cornerback to play man-to-man coverage starting with zone defense. If a wide receiver enters his zone, the cornerback must attach himself to the receiver and play man-to-man.
In this scenario, Johnson is clouding the outside receiver, who enters his zone and runs an inside route. Johnson is supposed to follow the route as his designated assignment, but decided to bail, knowing quarterback Joshua Dobbs was planning to throw the ball to the out route open towards the sideline.
Basically, Johnson left his assignment to make a play, demonstrating his elite ability to read the field and make an off-script play using his athleticism in milliseconds. It's incredible stuff.
Which is why Johnson earned the loud praise from Sherman.
"You a sick dude!"