As safety Kevin Byard looks to establish himself with the Chicago Bears in the weeks ahead, one of his first principles of leadership will be “showing up.”
The Bears’ replacement for longtime safety Eddie Jackson wants to be a present veteran voice for a young secondary.
“One of the best ways you earn their respect is by showing up every single day, working extremely hard, studying in the classroom, practicing,” Byard said Thursday at Halas Hall. “Being available, being there, being a good resource … that’s the first thing I want to do — earn the respect of my teammates, my coaches, everybody in the building, to let guys know how much I really care and how much this thing means to me.”
Over eight NFL seasons, Byard’s track record of showing up has been pretty remarkable.
Since the Tennessee Titans drafted him in the third round in 2016, Byard never has missed a game. He has started 121 straight regular-season games dating to the end of his rookie season and also has started eight playoff games.
And he said Thursday he never has missed a practice except for when his children were born. His stint on the COVID-19 list in 2021 even coincided with the Titans’ bye week.
“I wanted to have some vet days off, but I guess they never materialized just yet,” he joked.
Byard, 30, said former Titans coach Mike Vrabel used to tell his team there’s a “100% guaranteed injury rate” in football. At some point, a player will get injured or at least banged up. But Byard said he has been “blessed.”
“I take body maintenance and my career very seriously when it comes to off the field, recovery, nutrition, doing all those things,” he said. “They say availability is your best ability. That’s been one of my best abilities for sure.”
That availability is one way Byard — who signed a two-year, $15 million contract this week — expects to lead a developing Bears secondary. As he opened his news conference Thursday, he talked about the promise of young starters Jaquan Brisker, Kyler Gordon and Tyrique Stevenson, along with newly extended cornerback Jaylon Johnson.
He already has heard from Brisker — whom he compared to his former Titans teammate Kenny Vaccaro — and expects to work out with him this offseason to begin forming a bond.
“He’s a really good player, a guy that likes to talk and a guy that likes to hit,” Byard said. “Love playing with a guy like that.”
Byard believes he can bring a veteran perspective and example to the group. He wants to be “that second coach on the field” and a key communicator, something general manager Ryan Poles said in January he most valued in Jackson. Poles said Jackson made Brisker feel comfortable on the field.
Byard is four months older and has been in the league a year longer than Jackson, whom the Bears cut last month. Jackson was set to have an $18.14 million salary-cap hit in 2024 and now has a dead cap hit of $5.58 million, according to overthecap.com.
The Bears went with the cheaper Byard and also added former Green Bay Packers safety Jonathan Owens. Byard also brings a better health history than Jackson, who was slowed by a foot injury the last two seasons.
Byard, who played in college at Middle Tennessee State, spent his first 7½ seasons with the Titans, totaling 27 interceptions, 63 passes defended, three forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, two return touchdowns and 627 tackles. He was an All-Pro in 2017 — when he had a league-high eight interceptions — and in 2021, when he had five picks.
Byard inked a five-year, $70.5 million extension with the Titans in 2019, but he didn’t finish that contract because they traded him to the Philadelphia Eagles after six games in 2023.
He called getting traded midseason by the team with which he had spent his entire career a “whirlwind.” He finished the season with one interception in 10 games for the Eagles, who released him March 1.
“I’m not oblivious to the fact that guys change teams all the time in this league,” Byard said. “But for me, obviously being somewhere for so long, I’m a big routine- and regimen-based guy, so all of that getting thrown off and going to Philly (was a whirlwind).
“But being a professional football player, it’s our job to make the hard look easy. Nobody really cares if you got traded midway through the year. It’s just something you have to deal with as a team.
“I definitely think I did as best as I could with the situation. Never missed a practice, never missed a game there either. Did everything I possibly could to be a piece on that defense. It just didn’t work out. And sometimes that’s just life. I think I played pretty well with the circumstances that were there.”
Byard said he doesn’t need to prove he’s still on top of his game as he approaches 31. He thinks his film from last season shows that. He said he’s more “in the business of trying to prove myself right” as he settles in with his new team.
“Over my entire career, if I’m underrated or anything like that, I just try to prove myself right,” he said. “I know what type of player I am. I know what type of player I’ve been my entire career, and I will seek to prove myself right again.
“I’ve been working my behind off already this offseason. I’m excited to come in and be that piece for this defense and display my ball-hawking skills and things like that. I’m sure with the pieces that we have, it will be on show for real.”
