Coby Bryant returned to Chicago on Sunday night and showed up Monday for the Bears’ first offseason program with little rest and a first impression still waiting to happen. The veteran defensive back said he could not sleep the night before and walked into Halas Hall feeling, as he put it, like a kid headed to preschool again.
“I couldn’t sleep last night,” Bryant said Monday. “I felt like a kid going to preschool again, honestly. I’m excited.”
That first day brought the encounter he had been waiting for since the Bears signed him six weeks earlier. Bryant and quarterback Caleb Williams met in person for the first time on Monday after exchanging Instagram DMs and texts over the past several weeks. Williams was one of the first players to reach out after Bryant signed his three-year contract on March 12, and Bryant said the gesture said a lot about the young quarterback’s leadership.
“It told me a lot, honestly, just that the leader he is at such a young age, that’s very rare,” Bryant said. “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.”
The Bears have spent the spring talking up Bryant as much as they have about anyone they added on defense. At the NFL owners meetings in March, general manager Ryan Poles called him a trained killer. Coach Ben Johnson said Bryant had the “it” factor. Poles also pointed to his speed, aggression and mental toughness, while Johnson said Bryant’s personality and style of play were exactly what the team wanted to build around.
“The biggest thing right now is I just need to lead by example,” Bryant said. “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.”
He also made clear he is not trying to reinvent himself for his new team. Bryant spent only a few hours in Chicago on March 12 when he visited Halas Hall to officially sign his contract and meet coaches and teammates, then came back this week ready to fit into a defense that lost multiple veteran leaders in free agency. For him, the assignment is simpler than the outside buzz around his arrival.
“They signed Coby Bryant,” he said. “That’s who I am. They don’t want me to be anything or anybody special; just be me, honestly, and it’ll work out the right way.”