Ben Johnson responds to criticism surrounding Austin Booker's "dirty" hit

Bears' pass-rusher Austin Booker knocked Packers' quarterback Jordan Love out of the game in the second quarter of Saturday night's game. He brought him down for a sack, but the play didn't count due to Booker getting flagged for roughing.

The NFL is broken man. Lowers his head and Austin Booker gets called for “roughing the passer.” Absolute blasphemy pic.twitter.com/BAiMioRo3L
— Peej Page (@PeejBomb) December 21, 2025

Trying to see it from an unbiased perspective, I have no issue with there being a flag on the play. Even if Love lowered his helmet, there still was helmet-to-helmet contact. By the book, that's a penalty, and the defender is rarely going to get the benefit of the doubt when the play results in an injury.

With that said, Love lowered his helmet. In no way, shape, or form was it a dirty play. That hasn't stopped the masses from labeling it as such, though. Hell, even Fox Sports analyst Howie Long threw his hat into the ring and echoed the same sentiment.

Howie Long said both of Austin Booker’s hits on Love were dirty hits and that Booker “pile drived” him on the first one. No one else on the set agreed. What a terrible take.
— Jeremy (@jhoman29) December 21, 2025

I find it ironic that the man who played defensive end (for the Raiders, no less) throughout the '80s would take issue with a 250 lb. defensive end putting his body weight on the quarterback. The body weight roughing penalty is one of the worst flags in the entire sport, especially when it's called against a player who has roughly 20 pounds on the QB he's attempting to bring down.

Was Booker's first hit on Love a penalty? Sure. Whatever. It's still a dumb penalty and often the most cited reason some say the game has become 'soft'. With that said, it was, again, absolutely not a "dirty" play. One would think that Howie Long, of all people, should know that.

Bears' head coach Ben Johnson had a much different stance on the play where Love got hurt than the Packer backers (and Long) did.

Ben Johnson on the Austin Booker hit on Jordan Love and some of the #Bears' penalties pic.twitter.com/EYE1Q8jRij
— Barroom Net | Aldo Gandia (@BarroomNetwork) December 22, 2025

Johnson also defended Booker further when speaking to reporters on Monday.

“You get in these big games and you can get a little bit emotional because it’s a division rival and you want to make an impact," Johnson said. "We don’t want to shy away from that. We want to play aggressive, and we want to be a very physical team."

That was absolutely the correct response in this case. Unlike Bears' fans on Twitter (I've certainly been there), he shouldn't take issue with the flag being thrown. He rightfully defended Booker against the onslaught of hate being lobbed his way, though.

How was Booker supposed to know that Love was going to lower his helmet? He is a second-year defender trying to get after the quarterback in the most important game of his career to date. The 23-year-old did nothing wrong on the play, and it's good to see his coach have his back.

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