Bears coach Ben Johnson shrugs off Rams' McVay-LaFleur whispers, emphasizing NFL's common practice of sharing game planning insights.
There have been questions raised about whether Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay has used close friend Matt LaFleur to help with game planning for the Chicago Bears.
However, Bears head coach Ben Johnson didn't seem very worried about it.
The Bears beat the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card round after a heroic comeback in the fourth quarter. Chicago was down 21-6 and went on to win 31-27.
The Rams advanced to the next round after beating the Carolina Panthers 34-31.
At a recent press conference, McVay hinted that he's been talking to McVay ahead of Sunday's matchup. Johnson was asked about it and wasn't very bothered, noting that that's how the NFL works nowadays.
The head coach mentioned how it's very common to share film in that way before games.
"No, that's this league in general," Johnson said. "I think every week everyone tries to share what they had from the week before with your next opponent. I think that's common practice, and, you know, that's something you just keep on doing. Like I said all along, there's a million ways you can do things, a million plays you can call. We're going to do what we feel like is best for that particular week with the players that we have going against the opponent that we're going against."
The Rams have a connection to LaFleur on their coaching staff. Mike LaFleur, the Rams' offensive coordinator, is Matt's brother.
The brother of the Packers head coach has been in the NFL as an assistant coach since 2014, first starting with the Cleveland Browns as an offensive intern.
He then spent time with the Atlanta Falcons (2015-16), San Francisco 49ers (2017-20) and New York Jets (2021-22) in various assistant roles. LaFleur joined the Rams as offensive coordinator in 2023.
The chess match between the great play callers, McVay and Johnson, should definitely be entertaining to watch. The Rams played the Bears last season, but that was without Johnson at the helm.
Matt Eberflus picked up a 24-18 win over the Rams in that game, and now Johnson has a chance to do the same in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
The forecast for the game is calling for even colder temps than the Wild Card matchup at Soldier Field last weekend.
A trip to the NFC Championship is on the line. Kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. CT on Sunday via NBC.