Chicago Bears safety Kevin Byard didn’t bother mincing words.

“Just to be honest, this organization over the last 10 years or whatever, it’s been a losing culture,” Byard said. “We haven’t really won a lot, so you have to drastically come in and try to rearrange everything.”

Byard has been here for only one year. The veteran safety signed a two-year, $15 million free agent contract with the Bears in March 2024. But he quickly emerged as a key voice in the room at Halas Hall and a team captain last season.

Now entering his 10th year in the NFL, a milestone he takes pride in, Byard is one of the most seasoned players on the defense. He’s not afraid to be blunt. The Bears went 5-12 last season. The defense ranked 27th in yards allowed per game and 28th against the run.

Asked about his new coaching staff, led by head coach Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, Byard wasn’t even thinking about X’s and O’s or defensive techniques.

“The main thing we’re trying to get accomplished is really shifting the culture, changing the culture and not trying to do what we’ve done in the past,” Byard said.

The defense was supposed to set the tone under former Bears coach Matt Eberflus — and the unit looked as if it were ascending in 2023 and also started strong during the 4-2 burst in 2024. But the bottom fell out during the second half, and over the course of a 10-game losing streak, the defense sometimes looked just as lost as the offense.

That same defense remains largely intact heading into the 2025 season, but with some key additions along the interior. The Bears signed defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo during free agency. And they selected defensive tackle Shemar Turner out of Texas A&M in the second round of last month’s draft.

Jarrett, much like Byard, comes in with a decade of NFL experience under his belt and no hesitation to speak up.

“It’s going to take a lot of work for us to be able to achieve what we’re capable of,” Jarrett said. “But that’s the beautiful part of it. It’s a process, day in and day out.”

That work began this week when the team returned to Halas Hall for organized team activities. For the first time since last season, the majority of the team was back on the practice field together.

Asked about Allen’s style, Jarrett said the coordinator wants to build “an attacking-style defense.” That has to start up front. Jarrett joins a unit that includes returning starters in Montez Sweat, Gervon Dexter and Andrew Billings. With Jarrett and Odeyingbo in the mix, this line looks to be deeper than it was a year ago.

General manager Ryan Poles prioritized the interior on both offense and defense during the offseason, which says a lot about where he thinks the team needs to improve.

“First and foremost, stopping the run, something we really weren’t good at last year,” Byard said. “So we can attack in that way. If we stop the run, then everything opens up for the defense. Those (pass rushers) can pin their ears back, get after the quarterback.”

The Bears had a particularly tough time stopping the run after Billings, their 6-foot-1, 311-pound space-eater in the middle, went down with a season-ending pectoral injury midway through the season. He is expected to return in 2025. With Jarrett and the rookie Turner entering the rotation with Dexter and returning veteran tackles Chris Williams, Zacch Pickens and Jonathan Ford, the Bears have created some healthy competition at defensive tackle.

“All those guys, the list goes on and on because they’re all working hard,” linebacker Tremaine Edmunds said. “I can talk about all of them because that D-line group is working.”

Allen said earlier in the offseason that he’s looking for his defense to play with “a swagger.” He also noted the importance of creating pressure on the interior, not just on the edge.

“Everybody talks about these speed rushers off the edge, but really it’s about the interior pocket pressure that you have to have,” Allen said. “That allows guys like Montez Sweat to be able to have some success coming off the edge.”

It’s also what was missing after Billings went down. The effectiveness of everybody else suffered.

Jarrett’s addition offers hope that if somebody goes down, which inevitably will happen, the Bears have the depth to withstand it. Jarett, whose entire 10-year career was in Atlanta up to this point, called it “refreshing” to be in a new home for the first time.

New voices in the room matter, and none is more important than the head coach. The players can feel Johnson’s intensity already. As Byard said, the Bears needed to make some changes — and that’s what Johnson is asking his players to do.

“They’re all doing something a little bit different than what they’ve done in their past, whether it’s at this level or in college,” Johnson said. “You’re learning, you’re growing, they’re all getting a little bit more comfortable with it.”