Cordarrelle Patterson earns first-team All-Pro honors

Bears kick returner Cordarrelle Patterson earned first-team All-Pro honors from the Associated Press on Friday.

He was one of three Bears honored, but the only first-team selection. Inside linebacker Roquan Smith and outside linebacker Khalil Mack both earned second-team honors.

Patterson earned All-Pro honors for the fourth time, which included in 2019 as a member of the Bears. He is the first Bears kick returner to earn consecutive All-Pro honors since Devin Hester did so in 2006 and 2007.

Patterson averaged 29.1 yards a kick return this season, leading the NFC. He was one of five players in the NFL to return a kickoff for a touchdown in 2020. His kick return touchdown in Week 10 against Minnesota tied him for the Super Bowl-era record with eight career kickoff return touchdowns. Patterson was previously named a member of the NFC Pro Bowl team.

[Read more: Khalil Mack, Cordarrelle Patterson earn Pro Bowl bids]

Patterson’s 43 All-Pro votes led runner-up Andre Roberts of the Buffalo Bills (seven votes) by a wide margin.

“Teams have to prepare for him,” Bears coach Matt Nagy said Friday. “The confidence that he has and what he’s done field position-wise, returning one for a touchdown, he’s just energetic. And he’s a special player that does so many great things. I love the fact that he’s getting recognized.”

Nagy added that Patterson’s “happy-go-lucky” attitude keeps the Bears locker room in a good mood too.

Mack earned All-Pro honors for the fourth time and the second time as a member of the Bears. He had nine sacks, 13 quarterback hits, 11 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles and an interception this season. Mack finished third in voting for edge rushers. His six votes trailed Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt (47 votes) and Cleveland’s Myles Garrett (36 votes). Mack also is a Pro Bowl pick.

For Smith, the argument could be made that he was deserving of a first-team All-Pro spot. Some in Halas Hall thought Smith was snubbed of a Pro Bowl spot a few weeks ago.

[Read more: Bear Down, Nerd Up: Roquan Smith’s season was the best by a Bears inside linebacker in a decade]

“We’ll see what happens here with the All-Pro deal, because I do think he’s going to make that, and I think he should,” Bears inside linebackers coach Mark DeLeone said Dec. 28.

Smith tied for sixth in voting for linebackers with 10 votes. San Francisco’s Fred Warner was first with 39 votes, followed by Seattle’s Bobby Wagner (35), Indianapolis’ Darius Leonard (18), Tampa Bay’s Devin White (16), New Orleans’ Demario Davis (14) and tied with Tampa Bay’s Lavonte David (10).

Smith led the Bears with 139 tackles and 18 tackles for loss and also added four sacks. His 139 tackles were sixth most in the NFL this season. He had more tackles, tackles for loss and sacks than Warner or Wagner, the two leading vote getters.

Smith, who injured his elbow last week against Green Bay and is questionable for wild-card weekend, is using his sixth-place finish in the voting as motivation. He tweeted Friday that “I have never been one to debate opinions but great field performance & stats are earned. Extra fuel for my fire is always appreciated.”

Still, second-team All-Pro is nothing to be ashamed of. It was Smith’s first All-Pro honor in his three-year professional career.

A panel of 50 NFL writers and broadcasters selects the AP All-Pro team.