When Ben Johnson was introduced as the Chicago Bears‘ head coach in January, he took what many felt was a playful jab at Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur.
“I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for the coaches and the players in this [NFC North division]. I’ve been competing against them for the last six years,” the former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator said at the time. “And to be quite frank with you, I kind of enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year.”
LaFleur didn’t seem to take that comment as playfully as others. In fact, Johnson’s comment took LaFleur by surprise, according to FOX Sports NFL insider Jay Glazer.
“There is no history at all,” Glazer said of the relationship between Johnson and LaFleur on “FOX NFL Sunday.” In fact, when I called Matt LaFleur, I told him, ‘I didn’t know you guys were tight.’ He goes, ‘We’re not! I don’t know, I’m shocked over this.'”
LaFleur has been the Packers’ head coach since 2019 and is a product of the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree. Johnson, meanwhile, worked his way up during stints with the Miami Dolphins, where he worked under multiple head coaches, and under Dan Campbell with the Lions.
LaFleur told the “Bussin’ With The Boys” podcast that he had “no beef” with Johnson back in April. However, at least one member of LaFleur’s coaching staff viewed Johnson’s comment differently.
“Yeah, you take it personal for sure. I’ll just leave it at that,” Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavch told reporters earlier this week.
The back-and-forth between Johnson and LaFleur is just one of the many plot lines setting up an intriguing matchup between the NFL’s two oldest rivals. The 9-3 Bears and 8-3-1 Packers are battling for first place in the NFC North on Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app), with the winner possibly positioning itself to get the NFC’s No. 1 seed as well.
Even with the high stakes involved in Sunday’s game, it appears Johnson’s comments have added some juice to the age-old Bears-Packers rivalry.
“He was trying to stoke the rivalry, get under Matt’s skin and really add to the rivalry,” Glazer said.
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