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Ben Johnson's Ideas on Jeffery Simmons' Workload Against Seattle

It might not be the normal number of reps in a game for the Bears defensive tackle Monday night in his debut, but his normal total is somewhat heavy.
Gene Chamberlain|
New Bears defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons explains to reporters how he sees his role going forward.
New Bears defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons explains to reporters how he sees his role going forward. | Chicago Bears On SI Photo / Chicago Bears video

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Chicago Bears

Just about everyone at Halas Hall short of George McCaskey himself has weighed in on the Bears' acquisition of Jeffery Simmons at this point, except for someone else rather important.

Actually, it's the guy who has to coach the team.

Ben Johnson said something through canned quote issued by the team but on Saturday he said not only what he thinks of the effect Simmons can have, but discussed how much the All-Pro might be playing against Seattle on Monday night after only two practices.

"He’s a guy that forces an offense to know where he is and affects their protection, affects the run game, all those things," Johnson said. "We look forward to seeing the impact he can have, not just on dictating some terms to the offense but also elevating those around him as well through his play and through his leadership because those have been kind of the constants throughout his career so far.

"Only been a few days. Getting to know the person as much as we already know the player. He’s got a lot of film out there and a heck of a resume. Right now it’s just trying to connect him to all of our guys and indoctrinate him to a degree."

What Johnson had to say was in line with what defensive coordinator Dennis Allen suggested on Thursday and that was how the whole defense benefits.

"You get a guy like this and it frees up a lot of things. It takes a lot of issues that you might have seen as shortcomings and can mask those to a degree because when you've got a defensive player that's as dominant as this guy is, it just takes him making a play to cover up some things across the board," Johnson said. "Like I said before, I really believe he's going to elevate the play of everybody around him as well.

"Just having him out there is going to be a shot in the arm for us, to a degree.”

No big surprise

Johnson was well aware of the situation involving the grade even though GM Ryan Poles said Thursday the entire thing had been accomplished late at night.

"We talk on a daily basis, so things have progressed," Johnson said. "Some things come up and they don’t come to fruition and other things do. You could tell this was picking up steam there pretty quickly and we’re all on board. We certainly got a heck of a player that we feel strongly about. Excited to see what it looks like."

It's not the easiest thing to get a player ready to play in a new scheme after only two practices but this is what they're doing. It's probably no more difficult than the assignment facing the player who will square off against Simmons much of the time, new Seahawks guard Quenton Nelson. Seattle has to get Nelson up to speed on actually blocking plays in a full offense on only about four practices.

"I think DA’s going to be able to find a spot to put him in a good position to do what he does best - play fast," Johnson said of Simmons. "We don’t want him thinking out there and that’s certainly what you’re conscious of coming into a new deal.

"They’ve been coaching. He’s a smart guy and we’ve been encouraged with what we’ve seen so far."

Told Simmons' normal workload is 87% of plays in a game, Johnson wasn't quite sure they'd be stretching playing time that much.

"Yeah, he might not be quite that high Week 1 for us, but he certainly has shown to be able to carry a load," Johnson said.

The Bears don't usually overwork DTs anyway

The 87% is only during this season to date. While Simmons has played a lot in the past he was at 81% each of the last three seasons before 2026 and his high for a full season per Pro Football Reference is 85%. Simmons hasn't played a full season since 2021, the only year out of eight before now that he played every game. He has the chance to hit 17 this year. He has missed 18 games in eight seasons.

The Bears haven't been asking reps of this type from their defensive tackles. They use a rotation. For instance, starter Grady Jarrett has been getting 72% of reps this year after 68% last year. Starter Kentavius Street is at 43% and backup Neville Gallimore 34%. Then again, none of these players have been at Simmons' level of play.

There's no sense letting talent go to waste but you don't want a 29-year-old player in his prime wearing out.

Considering the importance Simmons has to the future of the team, there's no sense forcing the issue in his very first game. Putting players into risk by playing too many downs when they don't even know the full defense yet can not only hurt the team's chances but leave the player trying to do things he isn't prepared to do. That can mean injuries.

It's a situation the Bears need to monitor closely Monday night at Seattle.

However, in the long term Simmons will definitely get his reps. And in the NFL there could be no better position on defense where a team can invest in players 29 to 33 years old than at defensive tackle.

According to a study done by The Athletic's Jacob Robinson in July, in 2025 there were 34 defensive players in the NFL with at least 10 years of experience and 17 played defensive tackle.


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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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