How C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s 6 a.m. routine has helped his smooth Chicago Bears transition – Shaw Local

For a little over two weeks, C.J. Gardner-Johnson has followed the same routine almost every single day.

Gardner-Johnson arrives at Halas Hall, the Chicago Bears’ training facility, at 6 a.m. There he meets with Bears defensive assistant and nickels coach Cannon Matthews, who doesn’t drink coffee and is far from a morning person, to go over every detail of the Bears defense before the rest of the players arrive.

The routine was Gardner-Johnson’s idea when he signed with the Bears on Oct. 29 . Gardner-Johnson’s had a strong familiarity with Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s system after their time together with the New Orleans Saints. But some things in the system had changed since then.

Gardner-Johnson wanted to do whatever it took so that he was 100% caught up as soon as p