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While the game between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers ended on Saturday, the war of words has continued in the following days.
The Bears pulled off a remarkable 31-27 victory in the NFC wild-card round, taking down their bitter rivals, and have made their disdain for the Packers well-known. In the locker room after the game, head coach Ben Johnson made no secret about his feelings.
“Man, f— the Packers! F— them! F—ing hate those guys!” Johnson roared into a jubilant Bears locker room.
Packers star safety Xavier McKinney called Johnson a “troll” for his comments.
“He’s a troll,” McKinney said. “So it’s cool. I’m just not a troll. So I don’t know, that’s just him. But he’s a hell of a coach, though.”
Johnson doubled down on his postgame remarks on Monday.
“There’s a rivalry that exists between these two teams,” Johnson said. “Something that I fully recognize and I’m a part of. I just don’t like that team.”
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Johnson said he even talked with team owner George McCaskey about it, and the coach said the owner is on the same page.
“This is a rivalry and, city of Chicago, Green Bay, it needs to be a rivalry,” Johnson said.
The 39-year-old coach has made his distaste for the Packers known since his opening press conference as head coach of the Bears in January 2025. Johnson spoke about how good the NFC North is before taking an unprompted shot at Packers head coach Matt LaFleur.
“And to be quite frank with you, I kinda enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year,” Johnson said with a smile.
The coaches’ interactions after the team’s three matchups this season have been brief. After the Packers’ win, in the team’s first matchup of the regular season, their handshake hardly lasted a second before they ran past each other.
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After the Bears’ improbable comeback in the regular season, the handshake lasted a tad longer, as both coaches patted each other on the arm before going their separate ways.
The handshake after the wild-card game was even shorter than the first, as Johnson ran up to LaFleur and shook his hand before bolting off.
The Bears’ next game is against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. ET, when Johnson will have to take on another LaFleur. Mike LaFleur, brother of the Packers’ head coach, is the Rams’ offensive coordinator.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
