Ben Johnson has made his feelings on the Packers impossible to miss, and now Colston Loveland has pulled back the curtain on just how far that attitude goes inside the Bears building.
Speaking on The Pivot Podcast, Loveland said Johnson doesn’t approach Green Bay like any ordinary opponent. The Bears tight end made it clear the coach has leaned all the way into the rivalry and expects his team to do the same.
“Coach Johnson, he’s really about that, too,” Loveland said. “This is how it’s supposed to be.
We should hate each other. This is what rivalry is about.”
That kind of language is a long way from the usual polished coach-speak. Johnson isn’t selling neutrality or pretending every game carries the same emotional weight. He wants the Bears locked in on the Packers with real edge, and Loveland’s comments show that message is landing.
The rivalry itself dates back to 1921, but for years it had become painfully lopsided before Johnson arrived in Chicago. Green Bay controlled the series for so long that Bears fans were left with tradition and not much else.
Johnson has clearly decided that dynamic needs to change.
Loveland said the atmosphere around Packers week reminds him of Michigan’s rivalry with Michigan State, though he acknowledged the NFL version carries its own level of intensity. Inside Halas Hall, the message is unmistakable.
“That’s all anyone talks about,” Loveland said. “The owners, the GM, it’s like, ‘We’ve got to beat Green Bay. We must beat Green Bay.’”
That line says a lot about the standard Johnson has helped set. Beating the Packers is not being treated as a nice bonus or a divisional checkbox. It’s the point, from the top of the organization down into the locker room.
And Johnson hasn’t won over the room just by talking tough. Loveland said the Bears have bought into the way the coach runs things.
“We’re just bought in,” Loveland said. “He’s doing everything we’re doing to a certain extent. So, it’s like, we’re going to ride with this guy.”
Loveland also pointed to Johnson’s focus on the little things that tend to decide close games. The Bears, he said, work through two-minute offense, comeback situations and other end-of-game reps that show up when divisional games tighten up late.
“Shout out Coach Johnson,” Loveland said. “That’s the biggest thing: finish. We work two-minute more than anyone, and we work end-of-game situations.”
So yes, the Packers hatred is the headline. But the preparation is what makes it matter.
Johnson is not just trying to stir up emotion for one week and hope that carries Chicago through. He’s building a team that expects to handle the pressure that comes with games like these.
For Bears fans, that’s the part worth watching. The rivalry hasn’t just been revived in tone. Under Johnson, it sounds like Chicago is trying to rewrite the terms of the whole thing.
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