All week, the Detroit Lions have downplayed the narrative that Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears had anything to do with coach Ben Johnson. Despite the fact that Johnson, the team’s offensive coordinator last year, left for a division rival, Detroit insisted this game was about them getting right after an embarrassing loss to the Green Bay Packers last week.
Both coach Dan Campbell and quarterback Jared Goff continued to push that line after Detroit’s 52-21 beatdown of Johnson’s Bears.
“There was nothing disrespectful about it,” Goff said. “I think we’ve got so much respect for him and know what type of coach he is. We knew he’d have them ready to go, and reared up and going.”
Safety Brian Branch, however, said almost the complete opposite. When asked how much the team was motivated by facing Johnson, here was his response:
“Very motivated,” Branch said. “We knew coming into this game that this is personal. Really, all these games are personal. But this one was just—we felt like we’ve been betrayed from staff to players. We love Ben. We still love Ben. He’s a great coach and he’s a great mastermind, but yeah, it was time to get after him.”
When asked to clarify his statement, Branch said it was Johnson’s move to a division rival that felt like the biggest betrayal.
“Yeah, he could’ve went anywhere else, but he’s got to see us again,” Branch said.
Goff was not happy about one thing, though. He heard Lions fans chanting, “Fuck Ben Johnson” several times throughout the day, and found it unnecessary.
“Yeah, I didn’t like that. I thought that was—he did a lot for us here. I don’t know if he deserved that,” Goff said.
Whatever lingering drama between the two will have to wait. The Lions and Bears don’t face off again until the final week of the regular season.
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