From the moment Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson stood at the podium for his introductory press conference and said how he enjoys "beating Matt LaFleur twice a year," it was always going to become a talking point.
Almost a year later, the Green Bay Packers finally get their first shot at Johnson's Bears. Matt LaFleur shot it down when asked if Johnson's comments had come up this week, and Jordan Love also threw cold water on the storyline.
Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich? Not so much. "Yeah, you take it personal, for sure. I'll just leave it at that," he said.
Adam Stenavich told us how the Packers really feel about Ben Johnson
That was the restrained answer, Stenavich just leaving it at that, as he put it. That implies there's more he could say, but honestly, he revealed more than enough.
LaFleur shut down the question immediately when asked. Love dismissed it and said they weren't worried about Johnson's comments.
Come on. We know they will absolutely use it as fuel. LaFleur even basically said so himself during the offseason.
"I thought the press conference was interesting, but I don't have beef with him," LaFleur told the Bussin' With The Boys podcast in April.
He then faced a follow-up question: Will the Packers harness what Johnson said when they play the Bears? LaFleur simply responded, "Potentially."
Again, enough said.
And why wouldn't the Packers take Johnson's comments personally? It was an unnecessary, bizarrely specific shot at LaFleur. Johnson likely didn't mean it personally, instead trying to use his introductory press conference to fire up Bears fans about the Packers rivalry, but it still came off as odd.
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Johnson doesn't know LaFleur personally, so namedropping him made no sense, especially just moments after praising Dan Campbell and Kevin O'Connell, the other two head coaches in the NFC North. It came across like he was singling out LaFleur for no apparent reason.
And while Johnson played a part in beating LaFleur's Packers during his time as the Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator, he wasn't the head coach. He called plays on offense and matched up with Joe Barry's and, later, Jeff Hafley's defenses.
NFL teams will take anything as extra motivation. The Packers don't need any, as this game is for first place in the NFC North. Everything is still to play for. But nobody has forgotten Johnson's strange one-liner.
LaFleur and Love played it down, but Stenavich told us how the Packers really feel.