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Topics: NFL, American Football
James Taylor
The Chicago Bears coach has issued a response after he made a controversial comment to a reporter
Ben Johnson came under following a side-line interview with CBS reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala during half time of Sunday's NFL game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
The exchange began when Kinkhabwala remarked: "Your offense has struggled."
Johnson replied: "They haven't done anything, you're right."
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She followed that up by asking him what message he delivered to his players in the locker room at half time. He responded: "That it wasn't our brand of football, we're capable of a lot more and so we're hitting the reset button here at half-time and we're going to come back and we're going to establish our identity here in the second half.
Kinkhabwala pressed on: "So you need to change what you're doing?"
Johnson snapped back: "I don't know, do you think so? We're going to be just fine."
The fiery moment quickly sparked debate online.
Some fans felt the reporter's style of questioning was too aggressive, while othes criticised Johnson for his abrupt answers.
After the criticism, Johnson admitted that he regretted the way in which he came across through the interview.
He explained: "Honestly, I didn't think too much of it.
"I'm kind of in game mode. But when I look back at it, I am a little bit disappointed with what that looks like.
"When I thought I heard, it was not a question, but I needed to make some changes, I didn't take that very well, so I'll do a better job with those going forward."
It was a heated moment in what was a high-pressure game for the Bears.
With Johnson's side trailing the Las Vegas Raiders 14-9 at half-time, frustration was clearly starting to boil over for the coach.
Given the early struggles, Chicago turned it around in the second half.
But their fans were made to sweat, with the Bears surviving a last-minute field goal attempt from the Raiders.
Johnson added: "It was just a mess, man. I'm just not proud of what we put on tape.
"It's a reflection of myself. I always take it personally.
"I saw us getting better the first three weeks in a lot of ways on offense, and then this was just a little bit of a step back for us."
The Bears now look ahead to Monday, when they face the Washington Commanders.