Ben Johnson is "a little bit disappointed" in himself for CBS in-game interview
NFL coaches routinely submit to in-game interviews by the network handling a given game. Almost as routinely, these interviews consist of uneventful (and largely useless) coachspeak.
On Sunday, Bears coach Ben Johnson's interview after halftime of his team's game at Las Vegas was not uneventful.
First, Johnson interrupted the first question from Aditi Kinkhabwala of CBS, who was prefacing her inquiry by pointing out that the offense had struggled.
"They haven't done anything, you're right," Johnson said.
After his answer, Kinkhabwala said, "You need to change what you're doing."
"I don't know, you think so?" Johnson said. "We're gonna be just fine."
Johnson addressed the interaction with reporters on Monday.
"In the moment I honestly I didn't think too much of it," Johnson said, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com. "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. I didn't hear very well and that's not an excuse but 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."
In the first half against the Raiders, the Bears gained 90 yards on 35 plays. Las Vegas gained 185 on 25 plays. The Bears had two net rushing yards in the first two quarters. So, yes, the Bears were struggling. (Trailing 14-9 at the time, the Bears eventually won the game, 25-24.)
The broader point is that the league has created in-game access rules to enhance broadcasts. Coaches know they need to comply. Rarely if ever do those interactions create a headline, because rarely if ever do the coaches say anything but the most basic, perfunctory stuff.
It's the latest example of Johnson's transition for offensive mad scientist to overall team mouthpiece. Communication in all settings entails a very different skillset than cooking up plays like "stumblebum."
Rarely if ever will anything the coach says in a press conference or an interview be helpful. The goal is to avoid saying or doing anything that will hurt the broader cause.
The mere fact that Johnson was talking on Monday about the things he said on Sunday show that he landed on the wrong side of the simple pass/fail test for in-game interactions with reporters.