Ben Johnson Teases Plans for Jeffery Simmons in Bears Debut

The Chicago Bears were able to acquire Jeffery Simmons in a trade just before Week 8. 

The trade happened on Thursday, and Simmons is now with the team. With a player coming into a different situation so quickly before the next game, there have been questions about whether the Bears are going to use Simmons for their Monday Night Football matchup. 

It's definitely an important game in the NFC. The Bears have a chance to prove they can take on the reigning Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks. 

Still, you don't want to rush Simmons out there if he doesn't feel like he has a good grasp of Dennis Allen's defense. Simmons is a fantastic player, but he hasn't had a lot of time to get familiar with the defense in Chicago. 

Regardless, General Manager Ryan Poles has stated that the assumption is for Simmons to play.

At a recent press conference, head coach Ben Johnson was asked how much of the team's snaps Simmons would be on the field for. At the Tennessee Titans this season, Simmons was on the field for around 87% of their defensive snaps. 

Johnson shared that he didn't think Simmons would be on the field that much in his first game, but that he was encouraged by the defensive tackle's stamina. 

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

The Bears could be motivated to give Simmons an extra workload in Week 1 with Dayo Odeyingbo still on injured reserve. 

Odeyingbo has been on the IR since Oct. 17. He's already missed two games so far and will have to stay there for two more. 

It's hard to keep a player like Simmons off the field because of his production on a weekly basis. In this season alone, Simmons has 38 total tackles, four sacks, six TFLs, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. 

It'll be interesting to see how the Bears approach Simmons' debut. It will be an exciting game nonetheless. 

The Bears are 2-0 since Caleb Williams came back into the lineup after his hamstring injury. The Seahawks were struggling before their statement win over the Kansas City Chiefs last week. 

Both teams are jockeying for position in their respective divisions. The Bears are trying to catch the Minnesota Vikings, and the Seahawks are trying to close the gap with the San Francisco 49ers. 

We'll see which team can gain the edge. Will it be the high-powered Bears offense or the elite Seahawks defense? 

All will be decided on Monday Night Football at 7:15 p.m. CT on ESPN.