Former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Ben Johnson was announced as the head coach of the Chicago Bears on Tuesday, Jan. 21. Despite barely getting his feet under the table, Johnson has wasted little time in taking shots at his division rivals.
Speaking on his self-titled “St. Brown Podcast,” Lions star wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown revealed that he and Johnson have already exchanged trash talk since the move. Just days after hunting a Super Bowl on the same team, St. Brown and Johnson are now NFC North rivals, a fact that isn’t lost on either of them.
Amon-Ra St. Brown and Ben Johnson Trash Talk Each Other
Before revealing the exchange he’d had with Johnson, St. Brown had some positive words to say about his rivals and their new head coach.
“He’s obviously excited for the opportunity. You’ve got our boy Caleb (Williams) over there, who’s talented. They’ve got some good players over there, (D’Andre) Swift is over there.”
But while admitting to the talent on the Bears roster, St. Brown remained bullish about who was the top team in the North.
“I told him, I said ‘for two times a year, Ben, we’re gonna f*** you up.'” He then revealed Jonson’s blunt reply: “He goes, ‘I gonna f*** you up.'”
Johnson’s reply brought a laugh from St. Brown, who clearly has a lot of admiration for his former play-caller. Both will regret not being able to bring home a Super Bowl for Detroit this year, but a great deal has been achieved during their time working together.
In Johnson’s first season as offensive coordinator in Detroit, the team finished second in the division with a 9-8 record. That marked an astonishing improvement from the previous year when the team won just three games, finishing bottom of the division for the fourth straight year.
The Lions went on to finish top of the NFC North the following two seasons, making the playoffs for just the fourth and fifth time this century.
Johnson Takes Aim at Matt LaFleur
It’s not just his former receiver that Johnson had fighting words for. In his first press conference since taking the Bears job, Johnson fired an eyebrow-raising shot at Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur.
While giving his reasons for joining the Bears, Johnson mentioned not wanting to leave the NFC North. In his words, Johnson described the division as “the toughest division in football right now,” going on to give credit to two of his three new rival head coaches.
Of those three rivals, Johnson said “Dan Campbell, Kevin O’Connell — you talk about two coaches that are up for Coach of the Year awards.”
But the former Lions coordinator then took a different tone: “And to be quite frank with you, I kinda enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year.”
New #Bears HC Ben Johnson: “To be quite frank with you, I kinda enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year.” 🍿pic.twitter.com/qfny13ZCWT
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 22, 2025
Those comments should serve to endear Johnson to the Bears faithful, who have been downtrodden by their fiercest rivals in recent years. It’ll be interesting to hear how LaFleur has taken the jab, but the Bears-Packers rivalry appears set for a spicy new chapter.