Jeffery Simmons found out he was leaving Tennessee while he was eating breakfast with his teammates. “I was actually at the football facility. Woke up, had no idea what was about to happen,” the new Chicago Bears defensive tackle said on Friday, at his first news conference since the trade. “Went into the building, sitting down with my teammates, eating breakfast and I get a phone call from my agent. And of course, he broke the news.”
The Bears sent their 2027 and 2028 first-round picks and a 2027 fourth-round pick to the Titans for Simmons and a 2028 fifth-round pick on Thursday. He said the hardest part of the day was at home. “Yesterday was pretty hard to have that phone call with my family and to leave my daughter,” he said. “Hugging her before I headed to the airport was one of the hardest parts. You know, three years old, they don’t really understand what’s about to happen.” He also thanked Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk and the team: “Miss Amy, Tennessee, nothing but good to me, man. That organization for the last eight years have poured into me.”
Friday was better. “Today it felt great. It felt great to actually get on the practice field to move around with the guys,” Simmons said. “Being back with Montez, you know, that was my road dog, Mississippi State. So I’m excited to be here. I’m excited to be a Chicago Bear.”
“This team believes in what they have here and they want it right now”
Simmons said the price told him a lot. “The trade told me everything I needed to know, especially the value, from giving away two first-round picks,” he said. “I can also look on the other side of that and be like, man, I just got traded. But I can also look on the bright side of things of, you know, this team believes in what they have here and they want it right now.”
“This is a great locker room from quarterback all the way down,” he said. “I’m excited to be able to help this team compete for a championship.” Chicago is 5-2. Tennessee is 1-6, and Simmons had played only for the Titans since they drafted him 19th overall in 2019. He was a first-team All-Pro in 2025, when he had a career-high 11 sacks.
A Monday night debut against Quenton Nelson
His first game with the Bears is on Monday night at Seattle, against the defending champion Seahawks. Simmons said he has not played in prime time since 2023. “I think it was Thursday night against the Steelers when was the last time I actually played in one,” he said. “When you got a primetime game, that means you’re doing something right.” He added: “My first game being here in Chicago, I get to play on Monday night. I think that’s every dream of an NFL player.”
Seattle’s line now includes Quenton Nelson, whom the Colts traded to the Seahawks on Tuesday. Simmons faced him twice a year in the AFC South. “There’s nothing I don’t like about Quenton Nelson. I mean, he’s a true competitor,” Simmons said. “He’s a guy that always brings his A game when we play against each other.” Then he joked: “I hated the Colts. I’m sure the Chicago Bears hate the Packers around here. So it’s like, trust me, I’ll get on board real quick with that.”
He did not know how many snaps he will play on Monday. “I’m still trying to catch up with the playbook, get this game plan down and just trust the process, especially with this first week,” he said. “Whatever role they ask me to play Monday night, the rest of this season, I’m willing to do that.”
Caleb Williams and the smack talk
Simmons was asked about Caleb Williams, whom he once teased on social media about his painted nails. He said the topic did not come up when they met on Friday morning. “I thought I was going to crash my Instagram with the comments that I got,” Simmons said. “Them comments a couple years ago about the nails and whatnot, it’s all part of my game as well with the smack talk. I’m probably one of the best smack talkers.”
“I’m going to talk the most smack to you when you got a different color jersey on, but when you’re on the same team on Sundays, I go to war for any of my guys in the locker room. So I hope Caleb would know that,” he said. “We all know what type of player he is.”
He also said a defensive lineman loves playing with a high-scoring offense. “What defensive lineman wouldn’t love that, to be able to just go out there and pin your ears back and go attack the line of scrimmage and get to the quarterback,” he said. He has already given teammates a message about double teams. “Like I told Grady today, if I’m getting that slide, I expect you to go win,” he said of Grady Jarrett. “Same with Montez. If the tackles can hang on me and you can’t get off the ball and go get a free sack, there’s something wrong.”
“The standard is the standard”
Simmons said he wants to learn how coach Ben Johnson runs things before he pushes his own voice. “I don’t want to step on toes, but I want to make sure I’m preaching the right thing, exactly what he’s preaching,” he said. On leadership, he said DeMarcus Ware once told him to “give guys a vision and not an outcome,” and he described his approach: “I’ll never be the guy to walk into a locker room and say it’s your fault, your fault. I’m going to look in the mirror first. But also let guys know the standard is the standard.”
He said the emotions of the trade might stay with him until after Monday. “I’m where my feet at,” he said. Walking past Walter Payton’s number inside the Bears’ indoor facility, where cones keep people from stepping on it, made an impression. “That just brings chills through my body to know where I’m at and how much this city, this organization have a lot of tradition,” Simmons said. “I’m so excited to be a part of it, and I’m ready to roll.”
The Bears play at Seattle on Monday, November 2, at 8:15 p.m. ET, which is 3:15 a.m. on Tuesday in Cairo.
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