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 possible for practices.

“[Bears head coach] Ben [Johnson] put a lot of trust in me to go out there and get things done in a short amount of time,” Gardner-Johnson said. “That’s what I’m doing.”

He’s provided a shot in the arm for a Bears’ secondary riddled with injuries throughout the season. The unit has played without some of its starters throughout the year, including highly regarded slot cornerback Kyler Gordon. Chicago placed Gordon on injured reserve toward the end of October and brought in Gardner-Johnson after he spent time with the Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens this season.

The flier signing paid off immediately two games in.

Gardner-Johnson stepped into Gordon’s role as a blitzing cornerback and made impactful plays. He’s produced three sacks, which ranks third on the team, along with three quarterback hits in two games. Gardner-Johnson also forced a fumble that helped change the trajectory of Sunday’s win over the New York Giants.

“He’s a good football player,” Allen said. “He understands how to play the game. When you play the game of football, there’s certain rules and certain things that you’re supposed to do within each call on the defense and yet football players have to make decisions on the football field and that’s an instinctual thing and he does a really good job of that.”

The Bears haven’t been surprised by the instant impact. Gardner-Johnson showed how well he could play at safety when he joined the Philadelphia Eagles last season and helped them win a Super Bowl. But Allen said Gardner-Johnson has always shown a versatility to play either nickel or safety since his time with the Saints.

Gardner-Johnson has played the slot nickel role the way the Bears want it. There’s no hesitation from Gardner-Johnson when he takes off as soon as the ball is snapped to blitz. His timing is so meticulous where even if he’s tackling a bigger quarterback, Gardner-Johnson can still finish with a sack.

Bears defensive backs/passing game coordinator Al Harris hasn’t been a part of the 6 a.m. meetings. He lets Matthews work with the players coming in late while Harris polishes things off. But Harris knew Gardner-Johnson’s playing style would fit the role well once he got caught up with the scheme.

“Man, he’s done a good job,” Harris said. “He had familiarity with it and once, realistically from the player aspect of it, once you have the terminology, if you’re familiar with the terminology, it’s like riding a bike.”

The early morning meetings have done more than served as a studying session. They’ve also allowed Matthews and others to learn more about Gardner-Johnson personally.

Gardner-Johnson has had a persona of being a vocal player, sometimes to his detriment. He had two incidents with the Bears in his career before signing with them. But Gardner-Johnson, Allen and Johnson each felt comfortable with each other during the signing.

That’s resulted in a smooth transition into the Bears locker room.

“It’s really maintaining and really staying within it, within the locker room and not trying to be the outlier,” Gardner-Johnson said.

Matthews has seen how committed Gardner-Johnson has been to making sure this relationship works early in those morning meetings. He recalled a time when they watched film and Matthews pointed out a play Gardner-Johnson did fine.

Gardner-Johnson quickly jumped and said he wasn’t pleased with how he did. It needed it to be perfect.

“That’s who he is,” Matthews said. “You kind of hear stories, I’ve heard that from different coaches that have had him. But to see it, I truly feel that’s who he is. He wants to be the best.”

What’s next for this relationship remains to be seen.

The Bears could be getting reinforcements in the secondary sooner rather than later. Chicago made a surprise announcement Friday when they activated star cornerback Jaylon Johnson’s 21-day practice window to come off injured reserve. Gordon himself will be eligible to come off injured reserve next week after his misses his fourth game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

“[Bears head coach] Ben [Johnson] put a lot of trust in me to go out there and get things done in a short amount of time,” Gardner-Johnson said. “That’s what I’m doing.”

—  C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Chicago Bears safety/nickel

But Gardner-Johnson has found a role for himself with the Bears this season. No matter how it looks, he should continue to make an impact for the remainder of the season as the Bears try to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2020.

“The attitude is to win now, execute at a high level and take care of your teammates,” Gardner-Johnson said. “That’s what I’m here to do. Ben’s locker room is very team-friendly and easy, outgoing. It’s easy for me to come in and really just be me, not fit where he needed, just asking me to continue to play good football.”