Skip to main content
Bear Digest

Nailing Down Potential Bad Blood for Bears in Joint Preseason Practices

Could the Bears' joint practice with one of their preseason opponents stir up memories of bad blood?
Gene Chamberlain|
Caleb Williams points out where the linebackers are while Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons (98) gets set to rush.
Caleb Williams points out where the linebackers are while Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons (98) gets set to rush. | Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

In this story:

Chicago Bears

It's possible three days in Nashville for practice and a preseason finale for the Bears could create an interesting or even hazardous reunion.

The Bears will be facing the Tennessee Titans in a practice on Aug. 27 before their Aug. 29 game to close preseason.

What this means is Caleb Williams and Jeffery Simmons on the same field together most likely in practice, but it could theoretically happen in the preseason game. The volatile mix, of course, stems from trash talk before the first regular-season game Williams ever played for the Bears.

It was the Titans Pro Bowl defensive tackle who in June of 2024 mocked Williams' habit of painting his fingernails.

"Most definitely. Oh, it’s gonna be one of them games," Simmons told Rich Eisen. "I mean, he probably gets smack-talked by his teammates right now, but especially a game like that. My first game, of course I missed the last end of the season. … It’s gonna be the first game of the season. They’ve got us coming to Chicago."

Simmons, who was just made the highest-paid defensive tackle in the league by the Titans, had said he wanted to knock to polish off Williams' nails and also thought the Bears would come in a heavy favorite.

"That also make me even talk more smack and boost me up a little more, get into a different mode, as well," Simmons said. "I’ll be in a different mode that game."

Williams was able to come away the winner in his first game, although it wasn't exactly the kind of personal performance to excite any quarterback.

The Bears won on Tyrique Stevenson's 43-yard touchdown on a fourth-quarter interception return. Williams threw for only 93 yards on 14 of 29 for a paltry 55.7 passer rating.

Simmons was hardly heard from that day, as well. He had one solo tackle, a tackle for loss, and an assist.

Expect no more trash talk

It's safe to expect all of this is ancient history. Williams is such a league staple, with his picture on the front of Madden, that even Green Bay's Micah Parsons is throwing him compliments. Simmons and Williams are both elite players and well respected.

Both are likely to be on the top 100 list. Bryce Young made it, and if he did then Williams most certainly will be on it. Simmons has been a fixture on it since 2021.

You're not usually going to find elite players with grudges. When it happened before, Williams was viewed as a brash rookie who hadn't done anything in the league. Naturally he's going to absorb plenty of doubts and verbal abuse. Two years of standing up to the heat has proven he's, well ... tough as nails.

Players don't really care about his nails, and he uses them to support causes like Jim McMahon once did with his headbands. Williams last year on opening day had a suicide prevention theme, for example.

No one can criticize someone who calls attention to worthwhile causes this way.

The whole situation wasn't discussed much at the time after Simmons was asked during game week about his trash talk and admitted anything he said had been done purely in jest.

This shouldn't be interpreted to mean the Bears will have peaceful practices with the Titans, or even the previous week with Cincinnati.

Their practice last year with the Dolphins at Halas Hall had a few shoving matches involved, although nothing that could have been construed as a serious fight. Jahdae Wilson had a special teams dust-up that might have been the biggest one. The only problem to come out of the practice was how a few Miami players took offense to how the Bears seemed to practice with too much contact when there was supposed to be none.

This was the only Bears experience with practicing against another team under Johnson but some sort of confrontation could have been expected. The Lions were involved in several of these situations while Johnson was working under Dan Campbell.

The Cincinnati practice will be on Aug. 20, two days before the game at Soldier Field. The two teams had one of the most wild games last season but it's unlikely there would be a carryover and there was no real "bad blood," in the game.

Heated exchanges in joint practices can occur at any time, though. It just takes one play with two unhappy players and suddenly two teams are going at it.

The Bears will go into these practices without any sort of agenda, whether from last year's game, a game two years ago or something someone once said about Caleb Williams' nails two years ago.

Sign Up For the Bears Daily Digest - OnSI’s Free Chicago Bears Newsletter

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published | Modified
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.