Bears HC Ben Johnson shares his true feelings on the hit by Austin Booker that injured Packers QB Jordan Love in Week 16
Ben Johnson knows the right call was made on Saturday.
Lost in the madness during the Chicago Bears’ comeback against the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night was the fact that Packers starting quarterback Jordan Love was injured early in the game, forcing backup Malik Willis to finish out the game for Green Bay.
Love was injured during the second quarter and suffered a concussion, following a hit by Bears second-year pass rusher Austin Booker. Booker was properly flagged for roughing the passer for the second time of the game, but the real damage was already done.
Looking back on the game, Bears head coach Ben Johnson shared his perspective on the play that injured Love and agreed with the decision to throw the flag, even though some fans felt otherwise.
Ben Johnson defends the roughing the passer call on the play that injured QB Jordan Love
“To me, that’s a tough one to coach sometimes,” Johnson said to Jeff Joniak on Monday, via ESPN Chicago. “That’s the nature of being a pass rusher in this league. It’s not a hit that anybody wants to see in this game. It’s 100 percent a flag, I want to be clear on that.
“But at the same time, it is difficult when you’re trying to get to the quarterback and make sure you get him on the ground. You almost feel like his head is going down as you’re going in for the tackle, and that happens. That’s the cost of doing business, unfortunately, sometimes. We’re certainly conscious of it, I know that’s not (Booker’s) intention. None of our guys play that way, that’s not how we’re coached, or we’re built.”
Love remains in concussion protocol, and his status for next Saturday’s game between the Packers and the Baltimore Ravens is still up in the air. From the Bears’ side, it was another brutal penalty to take in that game, with Chicago eventually called for 10 penalties, including three other 15-yard violations.
“That one is a more difficult one to coach just from a technique perspective because we’re trying to go after the quarterback and it’s a bang-bang play,” Johnson added, talking to reporters on Monday. “All of the other 15-yarders, as far as I’m concerned, those are all preventable and egregious.”
Cleaning up penalties and playing cleaner football is certainly something the Bears will focus on this week, because it nearly proved too much to overcome on Saturday, and it isn’t a sustainable approach to overcome on a weekly basis to win games.
As for Booker, the league will likely send a fine his way on Saturday for the helmet-to-helmet contact.
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