Byard excited to welcome C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the Bears

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 6 hours ago

CHICAGO - The Chicago defense has been dealing with a lot of injuries, particularly in the secondary. Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson was a full participant in practice on Thursday, so it would seem like he should play.

However, the Bears still decided to add some depth by signing corner C.J. Gardner-Johnson.

“He’s a phenomenal player, in my opinion. I’m a fan of his game. Obviously, him having some big years in Philly, making it to the Super Bowl the first time, not winning, but obviously last year, being a big part of that Super Bowl winning team. This past year, obviously, he’s bounced around and all that good stuff,” safety Kevin Byard said. “But for me personally, since he’s on this team, it’s a new slate for me. I never met him personally outside of (having) a lot of mutual friends and things like that and he’s going to come in and help us out and I’m all about winning football and I think we have a really good leadership group on this team and I think he’ll fit right in. Obviously, he was out there (Wednesday) at practice. He was out there making plays and bouncing around and bringing some juice and so, I’m excited to have him and I think he’ll be good for our defense.”

Byard is having quite the season with a league-leading four interceptions in seven games and is tied for second on the team in tackles with 37. He always has the mentality of a competitor and is heavily scouting the Cincinnati Bengals in preparation for Chicago’s matchup against them on Sun. Nov. 2 (Noon / CBS).

The defense will have to contend with a dynamic receiver duo in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, although it is unclear who will be throwing to them.

“For me, I’ve already watched a bunch of their games. I’ve watched games with (quarterback Joe) Flacco in there these past three games and obviously Jake Browning played a few games as well. So, I’ve watched all the games. At the end of the day, they’re going to try to get the ball to their receivers. If it’s Flacco, Browning, obviously (defensive coordinator Dennis Allen) is going to do a good job as far as our schematic stuff to make sure we try to take away those guys,” Byard said. “But also these past couple games, we’ve been running the ball really well. So for me and our preparation as a defense, it starts with obviously taking away five (Higgins) and number one (Chase). Now, obviously, you can’t stop them completely (because) Ja’marr Chase probably is going to get 20 targets. So, he’s going to catch a few balls. But, trying to limit those explosive plays, but then also stopping the run … Obviously, something we didn’t do last game, we got to take the ball away. As a defense, we’ve proven that we take the ball away at a high level, we win ball games. So, I think that’s what we’re going to try to do to win this ball game.”

As Byard alluded to, the Bengals looked a lot different with Flacco under center versus Browning.

However, Flacco has an AC joint sprain and was limited in practice on Thursday. Therefore, it is possible he may not be able to play on Sunday, and Browning will be the quarterback instead.

To secure a win in this game, Chicago will need to rely on its defense, particularly its third-down defense.

Allen has a reputation for having a variety of different looks, particularly on third down, which is challenging for opposing offenses and enjoyable for the defense.

“He just kind of mixes it up. He’s not scored to go all-out blitz. So, I think that’s just the best thing about every single week. You kind of get excited on Thursday morning meetings, just try to see what the package is going to be like this week,” Byard said. “He’s going to blitz the safeties, blitz the backers. He’s going to drop everybody in coverage. You just really never know and I think that’s the good thing about it. He’s going to keep the offensive coordinator on his toes. But then obviously, he’s going to mix it up. He’s going to call different calls. So, I think that’s why we’ve been pretty successful on third downs.”