LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Jaylon Johnson was asked on Friday how his week was going. The Bears cornerback paused for a second, and then posed a follow-up.

“In what context?”

Johnson was reassured that the question was open-ended.

“I’m alive. Family’s good. Healthy. Great week.”

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It has also been an eventful one.

Johnson spoke at his locker almost a week exactly after Matt Eberflus had been let go, continuing a dramatic month where the Bears lost a bunch, lost offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and then their head coach.

While general manager Ryan Poles and team president Kevin Warren made the move to fire Eberflus – and there were plenty of reasons to do so – Johnson’s outburst after Chicago’s loss to Detroit with a timeout in the head coach’s pocket was a flashpoint in Eberflus’ downfall.

Upset about a six-game losing streak that included four close contests negatively impacted by poor coaching decisions – and an NFL career in Chicago thus far full of disappointment – Johnson was vocal in his displeasure over another winnable game ultimately lost in the waning moments.

He voiced frustration felt by the entire locker room, and eventually Eberflus left Ford Field’s visitor’s locker room.

Johnson feels like his voice was heard in that moment.

“I would say so. Yeah,” Johnson said. “But, I mean even in the moment it was more so reactionary. That wasn’t something that was premeditated or nothing like that. It was kind of just something, again, that came out that of course has been building inside for five years now.

“But at the end of the day, I think it was something my teammates felt and understood and can agree with. But I mean, that’s all that was, honestly.”

Johnson received the support from his teammates for being the one to say out loud what so many felt inside.

“We all kind of, at the end of the day kind of had the same feelings,”  It was kind of a matter of who’s going to be the one to say it, and I feel like I often times find myself being that person to say it,” Johnson said. “So, kind of just speaking for myself but also too speaking for the locker room, speaking to those frustrations. It was everything that everybody agreed with, I would say.”

The Bears have turned the page and, they hope, a corner heading into Sunday’s game against San Francisco.

There’s a renewed energy among the players, to be sure.

“You hear it?” DJ Moore said, referring to a raucous Bears post-practice locker room. “It’s like a brighter day in here. We’ve still got time to go put some wins out there and stack ‘em. That’s what everybody is looking forward to.”

Just getting back to football after five days of Eberflus, Brown and head-coach talk was a relief after a Thanksgiving loss and the long weekend that followed.

“I think there is a little bit of an exhale to it,” Kmet said. “I think the exhale for me kind of happened (Wednesday), just kind of finally moving on from it when you finally get on the grass and practice. It kind of for me, always signifies moving on to the next week. So, I think for me, that’s kind of when that happened.”