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The Patriots made the Super Bowl last year, almost winning it all under QB Drake Maye. Falling short, New England has one goal this year: head back and win it all. The team wasn’t content with the squad that brought them there. The Patriots upgraded the offense, trading for A.J. Brown and signing the likes of Romeo Doubs. Aside from that, the team signed a valued defensive veteran in Kevin Byard. Byard, 33, reunites with someone who mentored him on the Titans, coach Mike Vrabel. The active leader in career interceptions has made an immediate impact with the team, bringing the defense together to discuss what they need to accomplish to be successful. "After those first few practices, [Byard] brought us up, and he was like, 'We need takeaways today,'" safety Dell Pettus said via The Boston Globe. "Before we went to any competitive team activity, he said, 'We need more takeaways; we’re going to go out here and go get the football. "'Forget what everybody else is talking about; forget what the coaches talk about. This is our team. This is our defensive backfield. And it’s up to us to go get it, because the coaches can’t play for us.'" Before his arrival, Byard, with the Bears, led the league in interceptions last year (seven). Jaylinn Hawkins led New England with four. Chicago led the league in interceptions (23), while the Patriots, despite their success, had 10. Kevin Byard grabbed one more interception in Week 18 to secure the league title 💪 @Progressive pic.twitter.com/wsdaOiLpwg — NFL (@NFL) January 7, 2026 During a recent practice, there were three takeaways, including Byard picking off Maye. In this year’s first preseason game, the Patriots' defense picked off Anthony Richardson and Riley Leonard. In just a short time, Byard has changed the team for the better. “I really always appreciate [having] guys like that, that you can trust. That may make a mistake, but they’re not going to make too many of them,” Vrabel said. “They won’t make the same mistake twice. And he understands how critical the football is, making plays down the field and the risk-reward of some of those things. Kindle Vildor TIP DRILL 👏 📺 WBZ pic.twitter.com/yyftNoO8H6 “It’s comforting, it’s calming. I’ve always talked about how Kevin never gets really too high or too low. And you see some of these guys, they’re exhausted after a first couple plays, and Kevin just saves his energy for when the ball is snapped, and I’ve always appreciated that about him.” Byard has 36 total interceptions over his 10-year career. A workhorse, the one thing that the multi-time Pro Bowler has yet to accomplish is win a Super Bowl. By making the team better and continuing to add to his stat total, Byard aims to achieve that goal. "Obviously, this team was just in the Super Bowl," Byard said via NBC Sports. "There's great players already here, and honestly there's already a great group of leaders on this team... But for me it's more about coming in, being myself, and really just being infectious, having infectious energy, showing the young guys how it is to be a pro. "I'm going into my 11th season, so I've been there. I've done everything that you can possibly accomplish outside of winning the Super Bowl. So that's kind of like the last little notch I'm trying to get on my belt now."