The CBS reporter involved in a tense interview with Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson has admitted she could have phrased her questions differently to him.
Aditi Kinkhabwala grilled Johnson in a brief but awkward exchange over his struggling team before the third quarter against Las Vegas Raiders, where they were losing 14-9.
Johnson was abrupt in response to her first questions before holding a cold stare at her when she asked if anything should be changed – even the announcers on CBS said Johnson’s manner was ‘intimidating’.
Speaking Monday, the Bears coach accepted he needed to do better and now, Kinkhabwala has herself said she could have worded her questions differently.
‘It’s not the most ideal position to be put in, regardless, but you know I’ve talked to Bill Belichick at halfitme, so I’d like to think that after all these decades doing this job I am not going to be intimidated,’ she said.
‘I wish I’d been a little more specific on that follow-up. Instead of saying ‘you need to change something’ what i was trying to get at was, is it simply about being cleaner or is it you need to make a specific adjustment.
Ben Johnson gave a tense interview to Aditi Kinkhabwala during Bears vs Raiders
Kinkhabwala spoke to Johnson moments before the third quarter started on Sunday
‘I could have been more artful. Sometimes there is a lot of chaos, a lot of craziness. I didn’t expect him to respond that way because in our production meetings, he was so great.
‘We are all competitive people, it was a tight tight game and things weren’t going great in that first half. Things happen, things happen.’
On Sunday afternoon, Kinkhabwala teed up her question to Johnson by saying ‘your offense has struggled’, he interrupted and said: ‘They haven’t done anything, you’re right.’
Kinkhabwala replied: ‘So, what did you tell them to get things going?’
‘That wasn’t our brand of football,’ Johnson said. ‘We’re capable of a lot more and so we’re hitting the reset button here at half time and we’re going to come back and establish our identity here in the second half.’
Kinkhabwala continued: ‘Do you need to change what you’re doing?’
Giving a cold stare back at the CBS reporter, which he held for a few moments after his final comment, Johnson said: ‘I don’t know. You think so? We’re going to be just fine.’
Johnson was immediately called out for his behavior on social media by fans watching from home and speaking Monday, accepted that the footage was a bad look for him.
‘In the moment I honestly didn’t think too much of it, I’m kinda in game mode,’ he said.
‘But then when I look back at it, I am a little bit disappointed in what that looks like. I didn’t hear very well, and that’s not an excuse, but when I thought I heard – not a question, but that I needed to make some changes – I didn’t take that very well.’
Johnson concluded his answer saying he would ‘do a better job with those going forward.’
