The Bears got a real jolt from Jeffery Simmons in his first game, and the early returns were impossible to miss. In Week 8’s win over the Seahawks, the defensive tackle piled up six tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack, then left teammates and coaches talking about the ripple effect he created across the defense.
Chicago coach Ben Johnson said Simmons made an instant impression in every way that matters.
“Our guys were excited the moment they heard the news that we were bringing him on, and he’s fit right in,” Johnson said, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN. “We got a high character locker room, and he is that himself.
And you can feel his presence out there, whether it’s during the play or even after the play, you can feel him talking a little smack as well, which I think that elevates everybody around him. So I thought he played outstanding.
To come in there and have a share of the lead of tackles and a sack in his first game, his impact was profound.”
That disruption showed up in the back end too, at least according to Bears corner Jaylon Johnson, who said Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold never looked comfortable.
“I know that the quarterback was definitely uncomfortable and then there was a lot of disruption,” Johnson said. “You can just feel it on the back end [of the defense] of how disruptive he can be.”
Montez Sweat pointed to the way Simmons kept hammering home the same message during the game: the front four had to win without help.
“Jeff was just saying it to me all game, ‘We need to get home with four,'” Sweat said. “So those guys in the back cover, and I think DA felt that. I don’t think we blitzed as much as we usually do.”
In Detroit, Dan Campbell and Jared Goff both singled out Sione Vaki, who has started to carve out a bigger role behind Jahmyr Gibbs. Campbell said the Lions had challenged him before the game and needed him to answer in a few specific areas.
“Vaki was one of the guys we challenged this week going into this game,” Campbell said, via NBC Sports. “We were going to need him.
He needed to show up. He was going to need to get some carries for us, some significant carries.
They needed to be real yards, and he was going to need to be able to pass protect for us. And I thought he took a big step today.
That’s a huge step. He gained a lot of trust today, a ton.”
Goff liked the way Vaki kept the run game rolling and gave Gibbs a breather.
“Vaki ran his tail off,” Goff added. “And when he’s able to do that, it just gives Gibbs that much more of a breath on the sideline to come back and do his thing at his full capacity.
And the O-line loved it. They loved the challenge of, like, we’re going to keep leaning on you guys.
And I thought they played great.”
Green Bay’s kicking situation remains a work in progress, but Matt LaFleur is still backing rookie Trey Smack despite a rough stat line that includes five missed field goals and three missed extra points, one of them in Week 8. LaFleur said he likes the way Smack has handled the setbacks.
“I think he’s done a lot of good things,” LaFleur said, via PackersWire. “The thing I like about Trey is he’s shown to bounce back.
Never want to be in a bounce-back situation, but that’s football. You got to be able to be resilient and go out there and play the next play.
It started off bad, obviously, this last game missing a PAT, and then he responded.”
The Packers also expect Sean Rhyan to avoid injured reserve, though he still figures to miss time. Rob Demovsky reported the absence should be shorter than four games.
Josh Jacobs was asked about the recent allegations and whether they could lead to more missed time, and he said he isn’t spending his energy on that possibility.
“With all the evidence that we have and that they have, at this point it’s not one of those things where I’m sitting back on my hands like, ‘OK, am I gonna play this week?’ It’s really just up to them to make their final decision, but I’m not worried about feeling like I’mma miss any more time than I already have.” (Matt Schneidman)
Micah Parsons also addressed where he is physically as he works his way back, and he was blunt about the gap between where he is now and the level he expects from himself. He said conditioning will matter early, and that the All-Pro version of himself may take time to fully return.
“My conditioning right now is probably the worst it’s been in my career, you know what I mean? And that’s just the reality of it.
Am I gonna go out there and play 50, 60 snaps how I was doing before? Absolutely not.
It’s just not realistic. My body’s not there yet.
I don’t even think my knee’s built for that yet. I didn’t go through training camp.
So am I going to be the All-Pro Micah, the person that I once was, this year? Probably not until later, after I go through all my phases and things like that.”
(Schneidman)
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