Chicago Bears defensive lineman Justin Jones clearly has embraced the trash talk that comes with the Green Bay Packers rivalry after just one year wearing orange and blue.
It might be only June and the Bears-Packers season opener Sept. 10 at Soldier Field might be nearly three months away, but Jones still fanned the rivalry’s flames Tuesday during mandatory minicamp at Halas Hall by calling Packers fans “s—–” and adding that “half of them don’t even know football.”
Jones’ barbs came in response to a question about the seemingly wide-open NFC North picture this year after the Packers traded quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets.
The sixth-year veteran said he wished Rodgers had played another season in Green Bay. (It probably should be noted that Jones played in just two of Rodgers’ 25 career victories against the Bears after the defensive lineman joined the Bears on a two-year contract in 2022.)
“We went up there and we played a pretty good game, but it got away from us at the end, obviously, and they won,” Jones said of the Packers’ 27-10 win in September. “But their fans are really (s—–). So yeah, I wanted to go back up there and I wanted to play them and I wanted to beat them and I wanted him to be there so he could see it. But the fact he is gone, I mean, it’s cool. I guess it’s better for him not to be here.
“But yeah, I’m ready to take it over. I mean, it’s a good time to be a Bears fan. I’m not even going to lie to you.”
Asked why Packers fans are so “s—–,” Jones called them “frickin’ obnoxious just yelling and all that other stuff about things that don’t even matter.”
“The game hasn’t even started yet, like what are we talking about here?” Jones, 26, said. “Whatever, bro. Half of them don’t even know football. It’s so weird to me. But I’m just ready to go back out there and play. And I want to go out there and I want to beat the hell out of them on their field and I want to hear the boos then. That’s what I look forward to.”
Jones isn’t the only player to trash talk in the rivalry. After all, Rodgers, claiming to see a Bears fan flipping him the double-bird in October 2021 at Soldier Field, yelled on the field to Bears fans, “I own you! All my (bleeping) life! I own you! I still own you!”
But the Bears haven’t had much substance to back up their insults directed at the Packers during the Rodgers era. Perhaps that will change with Rodgers gone and new quarterback Jordan Love at the helm.
Jones at least sounded optimistic about the Bears core despite a 3-14 season in 2022.
He noted the difficulty of playing through a year in which the Bears traded defensive stars Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn and had another star, Eddie Jackson, go down with a foot injury. He spoke highly of the potential of rookie defensive linemen Gervon Dexter and Zacch Pickens. And he said the 2023 team is “a whole different locker room than it was last year”
“We’ve got a lot more guys who are more team-oriented versus themselves,” Jones said. “When you’ve got a bunch of guys that are on one-year deals and they’re all worried about what they’re going to be next year, it’s kind of hard to build a tight group. But when you’ve got guys that are going to be here for three years, four years, two years, guys who really want to come in here and win, that’s when you really start cooking with fire because now you’ve got talented players and you’ve got guys that want to be here and want to play for the Bears. It’s going to be a good deal.”
Jones, who had 52 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, seven quarterback hits and three sacks last season, spoke of that chemistry again when he was asked about the Bears potentially signing a veteran edge rusher to bolster the thinnest position group on the roster.
“Whoever they bring in here I hope that he fits the team chemistry and team camaraderie that we’re building here because that’s a very delicate type of thing that you don’t want to mess up,” he said. ”Because when your team is close, that’s kind of rare in the league. The biggest thing you try to build is like an actual team who care about each other. Being in this league, everybody’s worried about the money and about making plays and doing it for self. So if you get a bunch of guys who are doing it for each other, you’ve got a special group of guys. And we’ve got that here with the Bears.”
Of course, adding a defensive end who can help make sure Love doesn’t look like Rodgers probably would boost morale too. And help Jones back up the trash talk.
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