After Jeffery Simmons was acquired by the Chicago Bears in a blockbuter trade this week, his past comment about Caleb Williams' painted nails have resurfaced.

Simmons mentioned Williams' nails in 2024 before the two teams squared off in Week 1 in September. He referred to the Bears quarterback as "painted nails" on The Rich Eisen Show.

"Painted nails. I can't wait to say that to him," he said to Eisen in June of that year.

So, as you'd expect, Simmons was asked about that comment in his first press conference since joining the Bears and he said it was nothing more than just trash talk.

“The comments a couple years ago about the nails is all part of my game, with the smack talk,” Simmons stated. “I don’t know if you guys have heard, but I’m probably one of the best smack talkers. I talk a lot of smack when I’m on the field. I’m looking forward to being his teammate. We all know what type of player he is.”

Simmons noted that he thought the comment on Williams would "crash my Instagram" with all of the comments he received, especially from Bears fans.

An infamous trash talker

Simmons is indeed well-known for his trash talk, so that checks out. The former Titans star has said in the past that he will trash talk his own friend if they are on the opposing team.

"I don't care who I'm playing. It could be my best friend. When we step on the field, you my enemy," he said in 2024.

But now that Williams is on his team, the trash talk ends, at least when the two players aren't squaring off in practice.

“I've been a fan of Caleb,” Simmons said. “Of course, being on the other side and having to play against him, I’m not going to tell him that. I’m going to talk as much smack as I can."

“But now he’s on my team. Any teammate you ask about me, man, I have my teammate’s back, no matter if he’s on the other side of the ball or not," Simmons added. "I’m going to talk the most smack to you when you’ve got a different color jersey on, but when we’re on the same team on Sundays, I go to war for any of my guys in the locker room. I hope Caleb would know that.”

Simmons is quite the ally to have with his 6-foot-4, 305-pound frame.

Williams has twice shared his reaction to the Bears trading for the four-time Pro Bowler with a post on Instagram, and then a repost of former NFL cornerback Asante Samuel's post praising Simmons on X.

"If you have any doubt Jeffery Simmons won’t make that much of an impact for the Bears defense. You better go watch the film," Samuel said.

It's safe to say there are no hard feelings about Simmons' past trash talk and Williams is very much on board with having the superstar defensive lineman on his team.