After the Green Bay Packers picked up a much-deserved divisional victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday, head coach Matt LaFleur seemed distracted in his postgame interview on local radio.
“It’s bittersweet for me right now because I just heard the news about Javon Hargrave,” he said. “It’s not good.”
Hargrave, the standout veteran defensive tackle, went down with less than 2 minutes remaining and the Packers leading 24. He would miss the rest of the season with a torn Achilles tendon.
On the Fox show, color analyst Greg Olsen illustrated the risks on both sides in the event of a blowout in the NFL. But he seemed to place most of the blame on Bears head coach Ben Johnson, who repeatedly called timeouts to prolong the game and keep his team motivated despite the lopsided score.
“Those are the kind of games where (if) you’re the team that’s winning, you just say, ‘Let’s get this over with,’” Olsen said. “You’re Ben Johnson, you extend the game, you always try to talk your team through your decisions and say, ‘We’re going to fight until the end.’ But at what cost? »
Fox’s Greg Olsen reacts to Javon Hargave’s late injury in Green Bay:
“You’re Ben Johnson, you extend the game, you always try to talk your team through your decisions and say, ‘We’re going to fight until the end.’ But at what cost? » 🏈📺 https://t.co/gO9sggH5VU
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 11, 2026
Olsen also addressed the Packers faithful who might argue that LaFleur shouldn’t have had Hargrave on the field.
“You never like to see anyone get hurt, but certainly in a 24-point game. And I think the fans are going to think, ‘That’s a blast, take everyone out,'” he said. “Well, it’s not college football. I don’t have 110 guys in uniform on the sidelines.”
Olsen explained that most NFL teams have a full complement of defensive backups active every game day. However, some are used on special teams or rotate with the starters. There are not enough substitutes to replace the entire team.
Of course, Olsen didn’t place blame anywhere in particular for this freak injury. Hargrave was in a routine passing situation when he apparently tore the tendon. In football, any extra play at full speed carries a significant risk of injury.
And as the meticulous Olsen noted, even late in a blowout, head coaches have a lot to juggle when deploying personnel and managing the clock.
Gn sports
