Bears will see C.J. Gardner-Johnson for 1st time since Javon Wims punched him

“Do not get involved with 22,” Bears wide receivers coach Mike Furrey told his players.

By Furrey’s account, he said this literally minutes before the Bears offense returned to the field. The warning was to stay away from Saints safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who wears No. 22 and was trying to agitate the Bears receivers in a game on Nov. 1.

That’s what made what happened next so disappointing for Furrey. Moments later, Bears receiver Javon Wims was ejected for throwing punches at Gardner-Johnson.

The incident appeared to be in retaliation for a moment earlier in the game when Gardner-Johnson yanked Wims’ mouth guard off his helmet.

Furrey couldn’t stop thinking about Wims after the Saints beat the Bears, 26-23, in overtime that day. He called Wims that night.

“The biggest thing was the communication, to learn a lesson,” Furrey said. “When someone’s trying to protect you from maybe ruining your career, you need to listen.”

Wims served a two-game suspension for throwing the punch. By all accounts, he’s lucky to remain a member of the Chicago Bears. The Bears could’ve easily cut the third-year pro and former seventh-round draft pick, who at the time had caught only 27 passes in his professional career.

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Head coach Matt Nagy felt that Wims’ punches seemed out of character for what the Bears front office had seen from Wims up to that point.

“The day that he came back the first thing I told him is, ‘You’re lucky, you’re very lucky,’” Furrey said.

Now, more than two months later, the Bears will see Gardner-Johnson again in Sunday’s Wild Card round playoff game in New Orleans.

The one caveat is that Gardner-Johnson is currently on the reserve/COVID-19 list. He, like Saints running back Alvin Kamara, could be eligible to return for Sunday’s game, but it’s no guarantee. It’s unclear if Gardner-Johnson contracted COVID-19 or was a close contact.

The Saints safety doesn’t appear to have forgotten the incident with Wims. He tweeted “He coming to the city” Sunday night, not long after the Saints-Bears matchup was finalized.

Gardner-Johnson is known to ruffle some feathers on the football field. He mocked 5-foot-6 Bears running back Tarik Cohen for being short in 2019. His own teammate Michael Thomas reportedly punched him during practice earlier this season. After the incident with Wims, Gardner-Johnson wrote on Instagram that Wims punches “like a female.”

The Bears will need cooler heads to prevail Sunday, especially if receiver Darnell Mooney remains out due to an ankle injury. Without Mooney, Wims could see more playing time.

[Read more: Bears WR Darnell Mooney just played his best game ... then he hurt his ankle]

Wims has played half of the Bears’ offensive snaps in each of the past two games. That is the most he has played since Week 2.

“I still think he’s very lucky to be here, and so he needs to continue to be grateful for that,” Furrey said. “But I’m very pleased and obviously, as you can see, he’s getting in there and he’s doing what he needs to be doing to help us win.”

The Bears have not made Wims available to the media since he punched Gardner-Johnson.

Bears receiver Allen Robinson doesn’t see the goading and provocation as Gardner-Johnson’s style, per se, although it’s obviously something he does. Robinson has no problem with guys talking trash on the field, and admitted to doing it himself sometimes.

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“Guys come up from the same background and things like that, where we played in these little league games where we were competitive and talking trash,” Robinson said. “We played in high school where we were competitive and talking trash, the same in college, and now it’s just the NFL. [There’s] a few more cameras on us, so maybe a little more scrutinized.”

But there’s a difference between talking trash and getting ejected for throwing punches. Wims’ actions put the Bears at a disadvantage on Nov. 1. They can’t afford that in a playoff game.

“Guys like [Gardner-Johnson] do what they do,” Bears receiver Anthony Miller said. “But your bark can’t be louder than your bite and it’s hard to bite. So I’m not worried about that.”

[Read more: ‘No doubt’ Anthony Miller can step up if Darnell Mooney is out vs. Saints]