“The player in me would smack you”: Super Bowl Champion fires shot at Ben Johnson

As we head into Week 6, the Chicago Bears are 3-2 and will travel to Atlanta to take on the Falcons.

Luckily, they’re set to get QB Caleb Williams back from injury, as well as a couple of other key players. After a tough loss to the Packers last Sunday, head coach Ben Johnson is expecting a much different outcome this weekend.

His expectations have been high for his team ever since being hired in the 2025 off-season. During his first season as coach, he led the Bears to their best run in years. They won a playoff game and nearly made the NFC Championship.

Even with that success, he still has haters within the media. Former three-time Super Bowl Champion Mark Schlereth ripped into Johnson on his podcast yesterday. He said Johnson is putting too much pressure on his players, and said the player in him “would smack him upside the head.”

Former NFL Great Mark Schlereth goes all in on Ben Johnson. The league has finally seen behind the fake tough guy curtain. pic.twitter.com/kmxbV12ycP

— Packerfan Total Access- Clayton (@packers_access) October 15, 2026

His podcast, “The OG Football Show”, has a segment in which they throw a challenge flag to a certain player or coach. Schlereth surely let his thoughts on Johnson be known, and didn’t hold back.

“Now, as a broadcaster and a guy who does podcasts, don’t ever change. I love it. But just understand that the player in me would smack you upside the head, because you’re writing checks that I have to cash. Let me tell you something right now, Ben Johnson: if you had to line up with a helmet and shoulder pads on, we’d need to smoke bomb you to get you out of the locker room. You’d be standing in a puddle of piss.”

Schlereth continued his tirade, “You don’t have to go out there and block anybody, tackle anybody, or do anything. All week, understand you are a coach. We’re simple creatures as players. That motivation is something that resonates with us, and you’re doing stuff that’s putting your team in a tougher position to win.”

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson gets ripped by Mark Schlereth

Schlereth has been a talking head for years and is no stranger to takes like this.

This was likely in response to Ben Johnson’s pressers, where he demands excellence from his players. He’s been critical of his players when need be, but what coach isn’t? Bears fans have been waiting for an accountable, legit coach for years.

He’s well liked by the players, and that’s obvious. The success this organization has had in his short tenure has been apparent, and it certainly beats the old days. It’s one of the first times that Johnson has been publicly criticized.

Schlereth won three Super Bowls, two with the Washington Redskins and one with the Denver Broncos. He made two Pro Bowls over his 12-year career and, funny enough, won the George Halas Award in 1998.

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