Bears coach Ben Johnson offers no apologies for profane postgame speech

The Chicago Bears were hooting and hollering in the locker room after rallying late to knock the Green Bay Packers out of the playoffs on Saturday night.

Coach Ben Johnson made his feelings clear. He repeatedly yelled a profanity directed at the Packers to start his postgame pep talk.

While the Bears' focus shifts toward a home game against Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round on Sunday, Johnson's comments about the Packers are still getting plenty of attention. On Monday, he wasn't offering any apologies.

“There’s a rivalry that exists between these two teams, something that I fully recognize and I’m a part of. And, yeah, I just, I don’t like that team,” Johnson said.

Chicago and Green Bay have played each other more times than any other two NFL franchises have in a rivalry that dates to 1921.

Johnson embraced it from the moment the Bears hired him from Detroit's staff last January. He needled Green Bay's coach in his introductory news conference when he said, “I kind of enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year."

The Bears beat the Packers twice this year, rallying for a 31-27 wild-card victory after the teams split two tight regular-season games. They've won three of the past five meetings, counting the postseason, after being dominated for years by Green Bay.

The two coaches, meanwhile, seem to have an icy relationship. Their postgame handshake on Saturday went viral, with LaFleur extending his right hand and Johnson briefly touching it before running off.

“This is a rivalry and, city of Chicago, Green Bay, it needs to be a rivalry," Johnson said.

Packers safety Xavier McKinney praised Johnson as a “hell of a coach” and called him a “troll.”

“He’s a troll," he said. "So it’s cool. I’m just not a troll. So I don’t know, that’s just him. But he’s a hell of a coach, though.”

Strong finishes. The Bears had a league-leading 103 points in the fourth quarter and overtime from Weeks 9 to 18 during the regular season. And it was more of the same against Green Bay.

Chicago outscored the Packers 25-6 in the fourth quarter on the way to its seventh comeback win. All have come after trailing in the final two minutes of regulation.

Slow starts have been an issue for the Bears this season. And for the second week in a row, they struggled to get anything going before the final stretch.

They were shut out by Detroit through three quarters in a 19-16 loss to close the regular season. And the Green Bay game followed a similar pattern. The Bears trailed 21-3 at halftime and 21-6 going into the fourth.

TE Colston Loveland. The first-round draft pick from Michigan had a terrific playoff debut. He caught eight passes for a career-high 137 yards after combining for 16 receptions and 185 yards in the previous two games against San Francisco and Detroit.

Loveland led the Bears in receptions (58) and yards (713) during the regular season. He also tied DJ Moore and Rome Odunze for the team lead with six touchdown catches.

The Bears pulled off a surprise when they drafted Loveland with the 10th pick. They had far more pressing needs for an offensive tackle or pass rusher.

“We got a home run with him, and that’s something Coach said the other day to me," quarterback Caleb Williams said. “We were sitting in his office and everybody goes back to draft night. Why did we get Colston Loveland and why did we do this and why did we do that? It’s Colston Loveland, you know what I mean?”

RBs D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai. Swift and Monangai emerged as one of the best running back tandems in the NFL, and Chicago finished third in rushing. But the Bears haven't been able to get their run game going the past two weeks.

Chicago fell into an early hole against Green Bay and managed 93 yards rushing coming off a season-low 65-yard performance in a loss to Detroit. Swift had 54 yards and a touchdown on 13 runs in the win over the Packers, while Monangai finished with 27 yards on eight carries.

The Bears lost LB T.J. Edwards (broken left fibula) and LT Ozzy Trapilo (knee) likely for the remainder of the season. Edwards was carted off the field in the second quarter, and Trapilo hopped to the sideline on Chicago's go-ahead drive near the end of the game.

18 — The Bears rallied from 18 down, the biggest postseason comeback in franchise history. It was also the largest playoff comeback in the NFL since the 2022 Jacksonville Jaguars rallied to beat the Los Angeles Chargers 31-30 in a wild-card game after trailing 27-0.

The Bears will try to beat the Rams for the second year in a row, after a 24-18 win at Soldier Field in Week 4 last season. The only playoff game between the franchises was in 1950, when the Rams won a divisional game at the Los Angeles Coliseum.

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Chicago Bears' Colston Loveland catches a pass for a two-point conversion during the second half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Green Bay Packers Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Huh)

Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson celebrates with Rome Odunze after an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Green Bay Packers Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Huh)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The ex-husband of an Ohio woman charged this weekend with the murders of her and her husband waived his right to an extradition hearing Monday in Illinois.

Michael David McKee, 39, a doctor from Chicago, has been charged with premeditated aggravated murder in the shooting deaths of 39-year-old Monique Tepe, whom he divorced in 2017, and dentist Dr. Spencer Tepe, 37, in their Columbus home on Dec. 30.

McKee appeared in court in Winnebago County, Illinois, where he has been jailed since his arrest on Saturday. He appeared expressionless while he walked into the courtroom wearing a yellow jumpsuit with shackles around his wrists. Judge Donald Shriver did not say when McKee will be returned to Ohio, but he scheduled a hearing for Jan. 19 to confirm the status of the transfer.

The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office will coordinate McKee’s return to Franklin County, where the trial will take place, according to Tom Jakeway, trial court administrator for the 17th Judicial Circuit Court of Illinois.

His arrest caps off nearly two weeks of speculation surrounding the mysterious killings that attracted national attention. No obvious signs of forced entry were found at the Tepes' home. Police also said no weapon was found there, and murder-suicide was not suspected. Further, nothing was stolen, and the couple's two young children and their dog were left unharmed in the home.

In a statement, their family said the arrest was “an important step toward justice” and that they trusted the justice system to hold the person accountable.

“Monique and Spencer remain at the center of our hearts, and we carry forward their love as we surround and protect the two children they leave behind," it said. "We will continue to honor their lives and the light they brought into this world.”

Dispatchers first received calls of concern when Spencer Tepe didn’t show up on Dec. 30 at the dental practice where he worked in Athens, a college town about 75 miles (120.70 kilometers) southeast of Columbus. His manager told police his tardiness was “out of character.” It was when Columbus police conducted a wellness check at the home later that day that they discovered the couple's bullet-stricken bodies on the second floor.

Official reports from the Franklin County Coroner’s Office won’t be completed for several weeks, but a spokesperson said last week that they died in an “apparent homicide by gunshot wounds.”

Police had released security footage on Tuesday of a person of interest dressed in a dark hoodie and light colored pants walking in an alley near the couple’s home between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. — the window of time in which investigators believed the two were attacked. The release generated dozens of tips and took the manhunt across multiple state lines to McKee's apartment.

McKee and Monique Tepe, then-Monique Sabaturski, married in 2015, according to Franklin County court records. They filed for divorce two years later.

According to the Tepes' obituaries, Monique married Spencer Tepe in 2020. Family members described the couple as “extraordinary people whose lives were filled with love, joy and deep connection to others.”

Spencer Tepe was a graduate of the Ohio State University. He was a member of the American Dental Association and had been involved with the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. Monique Tepe was described as a “loving, patient, and joyful mother,” an avid baker, and a “thoughtful planner.”

AP reporter Mark Scolforo contributed to this report from Harrisburg, Pa.

This image taken from video shows Michael David McKee walking into the courtroom on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Rockford, Ill. (WIFR News/Pool Photo via AP)

Flowers and other items sit on the front porch of Spencer and Monique Tepe's home in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Aftoora-Orsagos)

This photo made from security footage shows a person of interest walking on Tuesday, December 30, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio. (Columbus Police Department via AP)

Spencer and Monique Tepe's home in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Aftoora-Orsagos)