CHICAGO -- Bears wide receiver Javon Wims was ejected in the third quarter of Sunday's 26-23 overtime loss against the Saints after he sucker-punched New Orleans safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
At the 9:11 mark of the third quarter, Bears quarterback Nick Foles completed a 5-yard pass to Allen Robinson II; but the real action occurred on the other side of the field, where Wims broke off a route and approached Gardner-Johnson from behind.
Wims appeared to tap Gardner-Johnson, who had his back turned, on the chest and then hauled off a wild sucker punch that glanced Gardner-Johnson on the helmet. Wims then hit Garder-Johnson with an open-handed slap to the face mask before Saints cornerback Janoris Jenkins jumped in the fray. Jenkins attacked Wims and wrestled the Bears wideout to the ground before members of both teams gathered to break up the fight.
Wims emerged from the pile clapping and smiling before security escorted him back to the Chicago locker room.
Bears coach Matt Nagy said after the game that the punch was "completely unacceptable."
"We talked to him and told him that's not how things go here," Nagy said. "One of Javon's strengths is character and who he is as a person and he has since apologized but there is no part of that in this game. Again, I still haven't seen it, but from what I heard it is not good. That's now how we roll here and we'll be talking to him."
Fox television cameras captured Gardner-Johnson get in Bears wide receiver Anthony Miller's face earlier in the game.
Saints star wideout Michael Thomas punched Gardner-Johnson in practice back in October that earned Thomas a one-game suspension from New Orleans head coach Sean Payton in Week 5.
"We just had to be smart and not allow that to dictate or have a part in the conclusion of the game and who wins or loses," Payton said after Sunday's game. "And that just takes discipline, we've got to continue to work on that. And fortunately, it didn't impact any of our players."
Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore said he was on the other side of the field and didn't see the punches or know what was going on. But he said Gardner-Johnson's teammates had to "turn up" for him in response.
"That was a dirty play, and we don't play that. We're grown men. And we don't go for that stuff," Lattimore said. "We had to step up. And I told him, we all told him, 'I got you.'"
ESPN's Michael Triplett contributed to this report.