Getty Chicago Bears HC Matt Nagy
It has been an eventful few months for Chicago Bears wide receiver Javon Wims. The third-year wideout was suspended for two games by the NFL after he punched Saints defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson multiple times for no good reason.
Then, a few weeks later, Wims decided to click ‘like’ on a fan’s comment that said Chicago was “where receivers go to die.” Whether the Bears are aware of Wims’ social media activities is unclear — although they’d have to be utterly oblivious if they weren’t — but it is clear they don’t plan on reprimanding him anymore this season — and that’s something that has ruffled some feathers, particularly amongst Chicago-based media.
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Chicago-Based Analysts Blast Bears for Activating Wims
On ESPN 1000’s Kap & J Hood this week, hosts and analysts David Kaplan and Jonathan Hood discussed the Bears’ most recent loss to the Detroit Lions, and one of the things that jumped out to both men was the moment they realized Wims wasn’t on the team’s inactives list.
“I looked up and went: ‘Wait a minute — Riley Ridley’s inactive?’ And I don’t see Javon Wims on that list, I’m like: ‘Wims is playing?! Hold on a minute!’ Maybe I’ve been hit in the head too many times,” Kaplan began. “That’s the guy that got suspended for two games without pay by the league. Didn’t dress for at least two more (games), and then has the temerity to go on social media and like posts that are critical of the Bears?! I would have called him in last Monday after seeing those Tweets, and I would have made a public spectacle out of cutting him. And what do (the Bears) do? Activate him. They’ve lost me.”
Hood agreed with Kaplan, noting the Bears had “Zero accountability. You see Matt Nagy up there at the press conference — he’s got no answers anymore.”
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Wims Has Had Enough Chances in Chicago…
Wims is an excellent blocking wide receiver — but Hood had a point about accountability. Exercising questionable judgment on social media is one thing; sucker-punching players and hurting his team on the field is quite another.
As it turns out, Wims and his fellow wide receivers were warned about the chippy play of Gardner-Johnson earlier in the game, and Wims still chose to ignore the advice of his coach. Bears wide receivers coach Mike Furrey said after the incident with Wims punching Gardner-Johnson that he had specifically warned his players to stay away from the Saints defender.
“I called Javon that night when I got home after the game and I told Javon, I said the most disappointing thing that occurred from that event was the fact that I just sat there on the bench prior to that play and told every single one of you, ‘Do not get involved with 22. Do not retaliate. Don’t put your hands on him. Don’t head-butt him,'” Furrey said.
With the team now on the worst losing streak it has seen since 2002, change is certainly coming to Chicago. Letting go of Wims should be a given if and when a new regime comes to town. Perhaps it should have been a given already.
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