Who did Ben Johnson tell off in NSFW lip-read? 4 Bears suspects

As they say in football circles, Ben Johnson is a leader of men.

It's still too early to tell exactly what kind of coach the Bears' head man will become, but it's clear that Johnson commands respect from his players and subordinates and that he has a high standard for attention to detail. The last thing you want to do when talking to Johnson is get lost in the weeds because he will, without hesitation, take you to task for wasting his time. Any moment a mad genius like Johnson doesn't spend drawing up fake flea-flickers and triple reverses to his tight end is a moment thrown away.

That's what made Johnson's sideline outburst, captured by ESPN cameras on Monday night, so amusing.

As the Bears' offense was called for a penalty in the second half, lip-readers could tell Johnson shared some NSFW curse words with an undisclosed person. Johnson could've been talking to someone on his staff. He might have been talking to someone on his roster. Or, he could've vented about the officials for a ticky-tacky call.

At this time, it's unclear who, exactly, was the target of Johnson's derision:

Ben Johnson told someone on his headset to “shut the f*ck up” ???? pic.twitter.com/wHCBbfHOhg— Underdog (@Underdog) October 14, 2025

In the interest of getting to the bottom of this total (non)controversy in the heat and tension of a close game, let's take a stab at who Johnson might have been speaking to when he started using his sailor's tongue. That's right, dearest readers. It's time for a For The Win INVESTIGATION about the likeliest suspects.

4. A poor Bears offensive assistant coach

Johnson isn't even halfway through his first season as Bears head coach. It stands to reason that the people he hired for his staff are likely still getting used to his demanding coaching style. It takes a while to institute a healthy program and open dialogue, you know?

Could Johnson have been telling someone like tight ends coach Jim Dray to shut his piehole about getting eligible offensive tackle Cole Kmet involved? What if it was offensive line coach Dan Roushar, who might have been trying to provide cover for his unit's glaring lack of discipline at times? Don't rule out running backs coach Eric Bieniemy, who may have just pointed out that D'Andre Swift was actually NOT a liability for once on Monday night and that he needed to touch the ball more.

Johnson was overstimulated and lashed out. It happens to the best of us.

3. Another assistant coach: Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle

At the age of 29, Doyle is the NFL's youngest offensive coordinator (OC). As a first-year OC, I wouldn't be shocked to learn that Doyle is trying to make his mark and speak up amongst the Bears coaches. He's already been empowered. Why wouldn't he try to, at least, appear more valuable and vocal?

What I'm trying to say is that young hotshots like Doyle usually do everything in their power to be anything but a Yes Man. They don't want to fade into the background. Yeah, it's probably a little annoying if you're his boss, but it's better than the alternative. Mind you, this isn't necessarily a bad thing for the Bears. Any healthy coaching staff, let alone any work environment, is collaborative and willing to hear criticism as long as it's constructive. Still, I wouldn't be surprised to learn if Doyle had a "hot take" about the Bears' play-calling (according to Johnson), to which Johnson summarily put him in his place.

2. The referees

I'm not going to sit here and pretend that the Bears were uniquely screwed by Monday night's officiating. The current state of NFL refereeing dictates that any number of squads see bad calls every single week. The zebras are usually awful for everyone!

But man. MAN. On Monday night, the Bears had:

• A Rome Odunze touchdown wiped out because of "illegal formation" on a TACKLE
• A phantom third-and-long facemask call that kept a Commanders' eventual touchdown possession alive
• A missed "leverage" call on their only field goal miss of the night

Having this frustrating context, would it have been at all surprising to learn Johnson told head referee Alex Moore to shut the [expletive] up after he changed an initial Commanders offside call into a Bears penalty? If you think otherwise, what do you think NFL coaches usually say out loud about perceived bad calls by refs?

I'd venture to guess they're never nice; we just don't always see their remarks on camera.

1. Caleb Williams

Let me be clear. I'm not making a mountain out of a mole hill in this situation. I do not think there is any meaningful schism between Johnson and Williams. I think Johnson thinks the world of Williams based on how he takes every chance to compliment his young, developing quarterback.

With that said, we know for a fact that Johnson's mic DOES directly feed into Williams' helmet. He is one of the main people Johnson talks to every week mid-game. I'm going to go ahead and say that Williams disagreed with something about Johnson's proposed strategy or a play because they have a relationship where they can push back on each other to grow.

Naturally, Johnson may have been fed up with Williams and told his quarterback off with some not-so-nice words. It's also hilarious that this might be the SECOND time this has happened between a Bears coach and quarterback.

(Warning: NSFW language below.)

#OTD in 2010, the #Bears hired Mike Martz as offensive coordinator.

Never forget Jay Cutler's thoughts on Mike pic.twitter.com/6eOg5rNNsk— Bears On Tap (@BearsOnTap) February 1, 2024

Once again, this sort of disagreement between playcaller and quarterback undoubtedly happens all the time. It's just not always captured on national television. Williams is an opinionated guy. And hey, so is Johnson.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Who did Ben Johnson say curse words to over Bears' mic on Monday night? 4 suspects