Coby Bryant eager to begin first offseason program with Bears
The Bears are equally as excited for Bryant to be at Halas Hall for spring exercises. General supervisor Ryan Poles and coach Ben Johnson spoke extremely of the veteran security on the NFL homeowners conferences in March, figuring out him, alongside defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, as a “trained killer.”
“There’s speed, there’s a level of aggression, there’s mental toughness,” Poles mentioned. “The guy plays the game the right way and with the right mentality, with a little violence to it. As we continue to collect more guys and guys can elevate to play that style of football, the better off we’ll be.”
“My little exposure with him when he came in was, ‘Holy cow, this guy has got the ‘it’ factor to him,'” Johnson mentioned. “He’s got some dynamic traits in terms of his personality that I think are going to rub off on our guys—and not to mention the way he plays the game is what we want our defense to look like as well.”
While Bryant has spent minimal time with Johnson and Allen to date, he’s grateful for the way they really feel about him as a participant and excited to train these killer instincts on the sphere within the coming weeks and months.
First and foremost, nonetheless, Bryant is targeted on gaining the belief of the locker room and constructing rapport as a frontrunner with his new teammates.
“The biggest thing right now is I just need to lead by example,” Bryant mentioned. “I feel like the guys need to see my work ethic, which is nothing new, honestly. I’ve always been that guy, lead by example first and then be more vocal. And then, once they see the work ethic and me making plays, etc., then they’ll start to gravitate towards it.”
With a number of leaders of the final season’s protection departing in free company, Bryant will definitely be referred to as upon to function a veteran presence within the locker room. Heading into his fifth NFL season, Bryant has loads of expertise serving as a frontrunner each on and off the sphere and does not really feel strain to be anybody however himself.
“They signed Coby Bryant,” Bryant defined. “That’s who I am. They don’t want me to be anything or anyone special; just be me, honestly, and it’ll work out the right way.”
Bryant already recognized robust management inside the Bears’ younger core, particularly calling out quarterback Caleb Williams.
During Bryant’s introductory press convention in March, he instructed reporters that Williams was one of many first gamers to attain out to him after he signed with the Bears. The pair met for the first time Monday however beforehand exchanged Instagram DMs and texts over the previous a number of weeks.
“It told me a lot, honestly, just that the leader he is at such a young age, that’s very rare,” Bryant mentioned. “I’ve been in the league for five years and I’ve never experienced anything like that as far as having that relationship with the quarterback so early. He’s just like I said earlier, he’s scratching the surface. He’s a great guy, met him today and the sky’s the limit for sure.”
It will not be lengthy till Williams and Bryant can be going head-to-head on the follow subject. Throughout the offseason, Bears coaches, entrance workplace personnel and gamers have all expressed the significance of leaving the feelings from final 12 months’s thrilling season previously and specializing in ranging from scratch.
That sentiment additionally applies to Bryant. The Cleveland native achieved each NFL participant’s final aim as a Super Bowl LX champion with the Seahawks. While the psychological transition from mid-February to now was actually “a lot” for Bryant, he is utterly prepared to embrace his new beginnings. That even included him switching his jersey quantity from No. 8 to No. 2, with the intention of leaving the previous in Seattle and creating his a brand new legacy in Chicago with the latter.
“Once I signed here, everything I’ve done in Seattle is behind me, honestly,” Bryant mentioned. “I’m looking forward to being part of this team and this organization. Plenty of special things are ahead of us, just scratching the surface and taking it one day at a time.”
