Cubs News: Byard on defensive expectations: "We're expecting to be a top defense” |
CHICAGO - Safety Kevin Byard was one of the few offseason additions on the defensive side of the ball. It was a move that made a lot of sense for the Chicago Bears after they released safety Eddie Jackson. Byard is an All-Pro safety who has recorded 28 interceptions during his eight seasons in the league.
Byard played the second half of last season on the Philadelphia Eagles. He was brought in to help the Philadelphia Eagles who were on a defensive spiral. Despite Byard’s talent, he was not able to save the Eagles from having their season cut short as a result of their spiral. The two-time Pro-Bowler was a bright spot in the struggling secondary as he only surrendered one touchdown during his stint there. Coming to Chicago, Byard knows he is stepping into a defense with high expectations after they were tied for first in the league last season in interceptions with 22. Nine of the 10 players for the Bears who recorded at least one interception last year are still on the roster, the exception being Jackson. With that kind of retention, being a top-level defense is the standard in Chicago. “We’re expecting to be a top defense. I think anything less than that is a let-down and also just know full well that with having a younger quarterback, I think especially early (in) the year, we have to get off to a fast start because, like I said, I’m (not) looking over the horizon or whatever, but I just think that you never know how early in the season, as far as the offense with a lot of new pieces, kind of meshing together,” Byard said. “So as a defense, we got to make sure that we being that top defense every single day and just having that consistency. So, as a team, obviously as we get later into the year and those guys are rolling, all three phases are rolling together. So, just being a defense, we got to make sure that we holding it down, our end of the bargain, no matter what the score is, the offense is doing, what anybody’s doing, we got to make sure we’re a top defense and that’s what we expect.” For any rookie quarterback, there are growing pains. Going against such a difficult defense could highlight those growing pains. Further, the defense can be raucous, “showing swag” and “talking trash,” creating more distractions for a rookie. However, going against such high-level competition and facing these challenges now can help rookie Caleb Williams going into the regular season. So, Byard and the rest of the defense are going to give Williams everything they have. “Making it as hard on (Williams) as possible, going out there, showing some swag, talking trash, doing all that stuff because at the end of the day, he’s going to have to lead us there. That’s kind of how it’s going to be and I said something to him at the end of practice like, ‘Hey, keep it going. We’re going to keep making you better and not necessarily saying that he had a terrible day, but it’s days like this (that) are going to make you better,’” Byard said. “He’s done a lot of positive things. He’s made some really great throws and just coming in with that swag obviously. As a rookie quarterback, he doesn’t seem flustered by anything, so, that’s exciting to see.”
