Ben Johnson couldn’t help but fire the first jab in what could become a bi-annual fixture we see for a bit between his Chicago Bears and Matt LaFleur’s Green Bay Packers.

“I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for the coaches and the players in this [division],” Johnson said in January while being introduced as the Bears’ head coach. “I’ve been competing against them for the last six years.

“And to be quite frank with you, I kind of enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year.”

Not because he knows LaFleur well or had any prior run-ins with him, either. Johnson just threw that out there for the love of the game.

LaFleur, for his part, hasn’t returned fire. But that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten about what Johnson said all those months ago.

“Anytime I’m lacking motivation, I think about

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