Jeffery Simmons won’t shy from his reputation as a trash-talker.
As one of the ascendant stars of the NFL, Simmons has earned the right to jaw with opponents, even if that occasionally requires officials to get involved.
“I’ve had the ref come to me with like ‘you have to calm it down,'” Simmons said Tuesday during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show. “Sometimes, the ref probably heard me really talking smack. He’s like ‘nine-eight, calm down.’
“It’s been like that a couple times.”
Naturally, the two-time Pro Bowler’s admission prompted Eisen and his crew to dig deeper on the subject, and before long, Week 1 — Tennessee’s date with No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears — became the focus.
Williams has already proven to be a lightning rod for criticism before even taking an NFL snap. Simmons said he’s going to take aim at one of Williams’ fashion choices.
“Painted nails. I can’t wait to say that to him,” Simmons said. “Most definitely. Oh, it’s gonna be one of them games. 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. All the hype’s gonna be around them of course. I think when special, even prime-time games … everybody just counts Tennessee out, which we all know. A game like Chicago, I’m sure (they’re) thinking we ’bout to get beat bad. That also make me even talk more smack and boost me up a little more, get into a different mode, as well. I’ll be in a different mode that game.
“I get it. You’ve got a first-round pick like Caleb Williams, which is a great player. Watching a couple games when he was at USC, he’s a hell of a player. But it’s a different league, and I’m excited to play him the first game.”
Plenty of rookies have heard similar (or worse) from veterans eager to welcome them into the NFL with a bit of brutality. Thanks to a privilege provided by the schedule makers, Simmons is relishing his opportunity to remind the top pick that he’s graduated to a much higher — and tougher — level of football, and to respect his elders.
Sports fans might recognize such an approach in another league: the WNBA, where other players have targeted rookie Caitlin Clark with the goal of reminding her she’s now in the big leagues. Simmons aims to do the same with Williams, a player who has been in the NFL headlines for well over a calendar year, despite not yet having played an NFL game.
It’s not just about intimidating a rookie, though. Simmons knows he needs to be the voice for a Titans team that many will likely overlook in 2024.
“That’s the goal. That’s my mindset,” Simmons said. “Then again, I really don’t care who it may be. If it could be Tom Brady’s first game of the season, I want to go out there and set the tone, not just for him but for who we are trying to be as a defense and as a team in Tennessee.
“Like you said, it’s one of them games where it’s his first real NFL game. Just hopefully, (I’m) not out to hurt no one, but our goal is to get to him and, like you said, welcome him to the NFL.”
