The Chicago Bears paid a substantial price for Jeffery Simmons because they needed someone who could change games from the middle of their defensive line. His first appearance offered an encouraging possibility: the trade could also help them get more from another expensive investment.

Montez Sweat returned from his two-game suspension Monday night and immediately gave Seattle problems. He finished Chicago’s 34-17 victory with a sack, three quarterback hits and a tackle for loss. Two additional sacks were erased by defensive holding penalties.

Afterward, Simmons revealed that he had arrived with a challenge for his former Mississippi State teammate.

“I challenged him this week,” Simmons said during his postgame press conference. “Get back to the old Sweat.”

That request carried some history. Simmons knew Sweat long before either player joined the Bears. Their reunion gave him a chance to demand the version of his teammate he remembered from college, and their first game together provided reasons to believe the partnership could work.

Sweat entered Monday needing a productive return. He had two sacks through five appearances before serving a suspension for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing substances policy. Chicago won both games he missed, beating Atlanta and New England.

The Bears had committed heavily to Sweat after acquiring him in 2023, signing him to a four-year, $98 million extension. His ability to affect quarterbacks remained important to their ambitions, even as attention shifted toward the All-Pro arriving from Tennessee. Simmons’ presence gave Sweat a different set of opportunities.

“I definitely got my opportunities,” Sweat told The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain. “I definitely had some one-on-ones. I was looking forward to taking advantage of it, so I’m looking forward to doing that for the rest of the year.”

Those individual matchups are a significant part of the appeal. An offense that devotes extra help to Simmons has fewer resources available elsewhere. Pressure through the middle can also reduce the space a quarterback has to step away from a defender coming around the edge.

Sweat still has to defeat the blocker in front of him. In Seattle, he repeatedly did enough to disrupt Sam Darnold, including on the two sacks that penalties wiped away. Those plays cannot be added to his official total, but they belong in an assessment of how he performed. Chicago saw more successful rushes than the final sack column alone would suggest.

The benefits also reached defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. According to Fishbain’s reporting, the Bears posted their lowest blitz rate of the season at 20.5 percent while generating 14 pressures.

Sweat said Simmons kept stressing the importance of reaching the quarterback with four rushers. Doing that allows more defenders to remain in coverage, giving Allen another way to make passing downs difficult.

Simmons described those opportunities as a responsibility for everyone across the front. If opponents assigned two blockers to him, he expected teammates to win against one. When he received an individual matchup, he expected the same standard to apply to him.

That makes the reunion about more than familiarity. Simmons has already established that he intends to push Sweat, while inviting his teammates to hold him accountable in return.

There is still a difference between a promising debut and a partnership that delivers consistently. Future opponents will adjust their protections. Chicago will need answers when offenses find ways to limit the opportunities Seattle allowed.

The Bears also had been improving defensively before Simmons arrived. His addition gives that progress another potential source of momentum, with Sweat well positioned to benefit. For now, Monday offered the kind of response Chicago needed. Sweat returned, took advantage of his chances and helped the Bears beat the defending champions on the road.

Simmons had plenty to manage during his first few days in Chicago. Finding time to challenge an old teammate may turn out to be another valuable part of his arrival.