Bears coach Ben Johnson is a patient man and it seems lately like his defensive backs are testing his limits.

Johnson has been elated with the play of edge rusher Daniel Hardy, particularly with last week's 1 1/2 sacks as the Bears sought to make up for the loss of Montez Sweat due to a two-week PED violation and suspension.

In fact, Johnson suggested Hardy might warrant more playing time as a result of the production boost he provided. Hardy largely had been a special teams player in the past.

"I like to highlight Daniel Hardy," Johnson said on Wednesday. "I think he has done as good a job as anybody affecting the passer these last two weeks and he’s a guy who certainly warrants a little bit more playing time on defense as well."

However, when it comes to pass coverage, the Bears struggled three straight games and last week cornerback Jaylon Johnson did in particular.

So where does Jaylon Johnson stand with his coach heading into the Seattle game as they try to stop wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba? When asked specifically about Jaylon Johnson's play, Ben Johnson responded with more of a threat or promise when asked about this situation.

"There's been some ups and some downs, and so just like everybody we're evaluating at the end of each game, winning performance versus losing performance," Ben Johnson said. "And like I alluded to with Daniel Hardy, he's a prime example, guys that are stepping up in their opportunities, they warrant more playing time.

"And so that's the case that we do offense, defense, and special teams each and every week, and we'll continue to do that."

That sounds a lot like Jaylon Johnson's playing time is either getting cut back or they're on the verge of it if he comes up with another poor effort.

Johnson whiffed on two touchdowns by the Patriots, once when quarterback Drake Maye faked him out on a run and the other when Rhamondre Stevenson took a short pass and turned into a 48-yard TD catch and run rather than attempting a Hail Mary pass.

Perhaps Johnson's playing time stays the same this week because cornerback Malik Muhammad has missed two practices Tuesday and Wednesday with a toe injury and he could have been a replacement.

Then again, they also have Clark Phillips available. Phillips got in for three plays against the Patriots, but according to Pro Football Focus he was the only Bears player with a worse pass coverage grade than Johnson. They had Johnson at 38.6 and Phillips at 35.0. Pro Football Reference has Johnson allowing a passer rating against of 100.4 or worse in every single game this year and a 129.4 for the season. They also have him at seven missed tackles, a team high.

The idea of cutting back Johnson's playing time is fine if the Bears actually have someone to replace him.

However, until they have Muhammad back, they don't really have a satisfactory replacement. Also, the other cornerback needs to be looked at and that's Tyrique Stevenson. His performance has been spotty, sometimes strong but other times even worse than Johnson's.