Ben Johnson explains unfortunate viral moment with sideline reporter

Ben Johnson doesn’t have a reputation for being an ass, but he sure seemed like one on Sunday. CBS sideline reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala spoke to Johnson entering halftime against the Raiders in what became a bizarre exchange as Johnson appeared to talk down to the veteran reporter, and give a condescending response to a question he initiated.

Johnson: “[…] We’re hitting the reset button here at halftime, and we’re gonna come back here and establish our identity in the second half.“
Kinkhabwala: “So you need to change what you’re doing?”
Johnson: “You think so? We’re going to be just fine.”

Both Johnson’s tone, and the glare he gave Kinkhabwala just wasn’t a good look on first take. It came off very much like a man talking down to a woman who asked him a fairly basic clarifying question about football — as if his word shouldn’t be challenged.

Johnson responded on Tuesday, apologizing for the incident and chalking it up to a combination of being in “game mode” and too locked in, as well as poor hearing inside the stadium.

This excuse makes a lot of sense, and Johnson unquestionably handled it the correct way. In watching the video numerous times it’s easy to see how the “so” at be beginning of Kinkhabwala’s question could have been lost — which changes the tone of the exchange entirely from her asking a follow-up question, to her asserting that he was doing a bad job.

At this moment in the game the Bears were 1-2 on the season. Questions lingered about how this team was coming together, and in one half of football Chicago was down 14-9 against a Raiders team that really shouldn’t have challenged them as much as they did. So, if he thought someone was coming at him then bristling back was to be expected a little.

This whole thing comes off as a massive misunderstanding. Kinkhabwala doesn’t have a history of being disrespectful towards coaches, or offering comments about their work — and at the same time Johnson doesn’t have a history of being rude to the media.

Neither Kinkhabwala, nor CBS Sports have commented on Johnson’s apology, but he deserves credit for getting out in front of this and admitting there was no excuse for him having such an attitude.