Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons marked Week 1 against the Chicago Bears on his calendar, but not just because it's Tennessee's season opener.
Simmons - one of the NFL's top trash talkers - said he can't wait to welcome No. 1 pick Caleb Williams to the league.
"Painted nails ... I can't wait to say that to him," Simmons recently said on the "Rich Eisen Show." "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."
Simmons added: "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 makes me even talk more smack and boost me up a little more, get into a different mode, as well."
Simmons is one of football's top interior linemen. The 26-year-old was limited to 12 games and 5.5 sacks due to injury last year, but he earned consecutive second-team All-Pro selections in 2021 and 2022.
Williams joined the Bears this offseason as the consensus top prospect in the 2024 draft. The former Heisman Trophy winner posted a decorated career with the USC Trojans and has long worn his signature painted nails.
"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," Simmons said. "But it's a different league, and I'm excited to play him the first game."
Simmons recorded a sack on Bryce Young, the 2023 first overall pick, when the Titans beat the Carolina Panthers in Week 12 last year.