Packers maul Bears, then fire back at Burden for 'quit' talk - ESPN

GREEN BAY, Wis. — No one on the Packers said much publicly when Bears receiver Luther Burden III noted last week that his team wanted to «beat them real bad and make them quit.»

That changed after Sunday's game.

Veteran linebacker Zaire Franklin, who was traded to the Packers in the offseason and wasn't part of the team that collapsed at Soldier Field in last season's NFC wild-card playoff loss to Chicago, had some strong words for Burden — even if Franklin didn't mention him by name — after the Packers' 31-7 win over the Bears at Lambeau Field.

«You got guys that never really made a real play in this league talkin' bout making somebody quit,» Franklin said. «That's weird. We don't do that. He quit today, by the way. He ain't wanna play anymore.»

Burden, who had six catches for 47 yards while the Bears played with Tyson Bagent at quarterback in place of the injured Caleb Williams, did not speak with reporters after the game.

«I mean, we definitely flipped that on their head,» Packers receiver Christian Watson said. «But we're focused on us, but yeah, we knew what it was going to be, and we did it.»

The win pulled the Packers (3-2) even with the Bears in the NFC North, but both teams trail the first-place Vikings (5-0). The rematch in Chicago is more than two months away, on Christmas Day, but the first meeting won't be forgotten anytime soon.

Franklin and others in the victorious locker room said coach Matt LaFleur tried to keep the focus internal and not on what was said by others. However, based on LaFleur's aggressive playcalls — green-lighting quarterback Jordan Love to take deep shot after deep shot — there might have been more to it.

«Man, I feel like since I been here, it's just been a bunch of them saying a whole