{"id":1033246,"date":"2026-10-21T05:13:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T05:13:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1033246\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T05:13:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T05:13:22","slug":"kevin-byard-looking-forward-to-return-to-chicago-to-face-bears-caleb-williams-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1033246\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Byard looking forward to return to Chicago to face Bears, Caleb Williams"},"content":{"rendered":"

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) \u2014 New England Patriots<\/a> safety Kevin Byard<\/a> doesn\u2019t have any hard feelings about the two seasons he spent with the Chicago Bears<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But this week he is trying to think of any tips to help his new team walk out of Thursday\u2019s night matchup in Chicago with a victory against his former team. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m giving the coaches and the players as much as I can, you know what I mean?\u201d Byard said with a smile on Tuesday. \u201cObviously, I am not there anymore, and I don\u2019t have all my notes and stuff like that. But as far as personnel, anything I can kind of remember.\u201d<\/p>\n

Byard experienced plenty during his two seasons with the Bears. <\/p>\n

He arrived in 2024 after his lone season in Philadelphia, signed a two-year deal and was selected as a captain on his new team. He then proceeded to be part of a rebuilding year that included coach Matt Eberflus being fired after 12 games in what ended up being a 10-game losing streak. <\/p>\n

The Bears quickly turned things around last season under new coach Ben Johnson, and Byard thrived in the new environment, leading the NFL<\/a> in interceptions while being selected as an All-Pro for the third time in his career. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s why the main feeling he\u2019s taking with him when he returns to Soldier Field this week is one of respect. <\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely excited to go back to Chicago and play up there,\u201d Byard said. \u201cI loved playing in that stadium in front of those fans. It\u2019s going to be an electric environment.\u201d <\/p>\n

Part of Byard\u2019s experience over the past two seasons was getting to know Bears quarterback Caleb Williams<\/a>, who was his fellow captain both years. <\/p>\n

Williams said he learned a lot from Byard during their time together.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, being able to go versus him, practice for two years. I mean, he\u2019s a super savvy vet,\u201d Williams said. \u201cI know he\u2019s getting up there in age (laughs), but he\u2019s still fast, and he does \u2014 I\u2019ve seen him work. He studies film. He still moves extremely well. He knows the route concepts really well.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s given the Patriots an extra lift to a secondary that already includes star Christian Gonzalez<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Johnson isn\u2019t surprised that Byard has fit in so well in New England\u2019s locker room.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Kevin Byard and what he brings to the table. You can tell he really fits their defense well in terms of the communication and what they\u2019re asking him to do,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

Though Byard has yet to have an INT through the Patriots first six games, Williams said he\u2019ll be keeping an eye on him this week. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gonna be a great challenge for us, a great challenge for me and the wide receivers to be able to go out there and execute and complete passes and keep being the offense and identity that we wanna be,\u201d Williams said. <\/p>\n

Byard said the respect is mutual.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love his mentality, I\u2019m a huge fan of him, honestly,\u201d Byard said. \u201cI just think the care, his willingness to go out there and fight every day with his team. So I\u2019m excited to play against him and hopefully our defense can have a better day.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

See AP\u2019s full NFL coverage here<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) \u2014 New England Patriots safety Kevin Byard doesn\u2019t have any hard feelings about the two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":975804,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2070],"tags":[374,1036,692,391,2493,6032,7,48252,122,249,6],"class_list":["post-1033246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-bears","tag-bears","tag-caleb-williams","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-bears","tag-chicagobears","tag-christian-gonzalez","tag-football","tag-kevin-byard-iii","tag-national-football-league","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117477192721333710","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1033246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1033246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1033246\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/975804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1033246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1033246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1033246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}