Questions still remain about Ben Johnson’s somewhat shocking decision to take the head coaching job with the Chicago Bears. It was clearly time for Johnson to go, but many Detroit Lions fans were upset that he chose to go to their division rival. Other than a great Instagram post from running back David Montgomery, I haven’t seen many Lions players react to this news. That changed Wednesday when Amon-Ra St. Brown shared his thoughts on the latest St. Brown Podcast.
Below is a transcript of Mr. St. Brown’s remarks.
“Of course, I love Ben. He’s hands down one of my favorite coaches I’ve ever had. He’s smart and one of the hardest working coaches I’ve ever been around. But obviously, I’d like to keep him in Detroit forever, but that’s not the reality. I think he would want to be a head coach at some point in his life, if not every coach. I think it’s the best opportunity for him to leave. If he doesn’t leave this year, I think teams are going to say, “Oh, what’s wrong with him?” He had the most points. We had the highest scoring offense in the league. Unfortunately, we lost early, but I think this was his year to go and he earned it. So I don’t blame him. ”
St. Brown then wanted to address some Lions fans who accused Johnson of making the call during a district loss to the Washington Commanders. Some thought Johnson was too distracted by head coaching opportunities to focus on the game plan going forward. Suffice it to say, Mr. St. Brown disagreed.
“Everyone on Twitter was saying Lions fans hated him so much, ‘He didn’t prepare for this (playoff game).’ He was interviewed during his bye week. ”Trust me. I know Ben. He was as focused as he could be for that game,” St. Brown said.
Mr. St. Brown has also been in discussions with Mr. Johnson since he accepted the job. He shared some of their hilarious banter on his podcast.
“I told him, ‘Twice a year, Ben, we’re going to screw you over,'” St. Brown said. “He said, ‘I’m going to fuck you up.’ I said, ‘Okay, let’s take a look.’” I told him I knew all his favorite plays. I know all his tendencies. But we were just going back and forth and messing around. That’s interesting. He said, “If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best players, right? ‘It was something like that.’
Ultimately, St. Brown was satisfied with his former offensive coordinator.
“I love Ben. I’m happy for him and I’m happy for his family and his kids. I love his kids, his wife is amazing.”
…That said, he clearly wasn’t excited about going to an in-district rival.
“To be honest, I didn’t know if he was going to take the Bears job, but he did.”
Check out the latest St. Brown Podcast below.
