SAN FRANCISCO — Jaycee Horn might not have been in San Francisco Sunday morning for the first Pro Bowl Games practice, but his presence was still felt.

The Panthers' corner was stuck back in Charlotte thanks to a generational snowstorm that dumped up to 11 inches of powder on the Queen City in some spots, causing him to miss the first practice of the week, but he plans on making it to the West Coast in time for Monday's practice session.

As players from both the AFC and NFC mingled on the field after and in between practice sessions, corners, receivers, former teammates, and friends inquired as to Horn's whereabouts.

"The snow?" questioned Christian McCaffrey, one of many to do so. "Yeah, that makes sense. Better be here tomorrow, though."

Horn should be in the Bay Area today, but he doesn't have to be on the field for his Pro Bowl teammates to feel him peeking over their shoulder. That's practically how Bears safety Kevin Byard III spent the entire season, as Horn chased Byard to the top of the interception list.

"It was definitely a silent acknowledgement," laughed Byard of the unspoken competition. "I know Jaycee well. We got the same agent and a lot of business people."

Byard finished the regular season at the top of the league's leaderboard with seven interceptions. Horn was tied for second with 5 total, along with Jaguars linebacker Devin Lloyd.

"It was kind of funny because I ran into Devin Lloyd in the elevator," shared Byard. "And we was kind of jawing back and forth. He's like, 'Man, I thought I was going to get you this year.' And I've had a lot of guys on my team, and Nahshon Wright, Tremaine Edmunds, and we were all kind of bunched up, four or five interceptions, and I was able to get a few of them towards the end.

"But no, just a silent agreement, obviously just good players trying to best each other, so it was kind of fun."

Just like Byard had two teammates pushing to overtake him (Wright was also tied with Horn with five interceptions, and Edmunds had four), he watched from afar as Mike Jackson and Horn dueled out for the most as well, pushing each other until the very end.

Jackson finished the regular season with four interceptions and added another in the wild card game against the Rams. As a safety, Byard knows what a luxury it can be to have two corners like Horn and Jackson as a duo.

"Man, I think especially being a safety when you got two shutdown corners like those two guys, it almost makes your job a lot easier because then you can just kind of play free, read the quarterback's eyes," said Byard.

"Because the corner can't just not—I mean, they can't throw on either one of them guys as much as they can, so they try to throw the ball in the middle, which obviously gives me more opportunities for safety."

And as Byard prepared for the Bears' divisional matchup against the Rams, he watched film clip after film clip of Horn and Jackson facing off against one of the most dynamic offenses in the league this season, coming away more and more impressed with each snap.

"Man, those are two phenomenal players. Jaycee and Mike Jackson, in those last few games, especially that Rams game, I mean, he played phenomenal," complimented Byard.

"I mean, Mike made plays all day, and they kept trying him for some reason. He just seems to like playing Matthew Stafford now. He's a phenomenal player, though."

Someone who lived that matchup was Puka Nacua. Concussion protocol kept Horn sidelined for the regular season matchup in Week 13, but Jackson was glued to Nacua all day. The Pro Bowl receiver had to make physics-defying catches to even get past him.

Then, in the wild-card game, Horn and Jackson rotated, sharing duties across all the Rams' receivers, including Nacua. At 6-2, 216 pounds, Nacua is used to having the purely physical edge over most corners. But two of the three corners he has faced who could match up against him physically play for the Carolina Panthers.

"I always think if I were to be a GM or to build a corner, I'm like you want him to look like Patrick Surtain or Jaycee Horn. Or you want them to have a bigger (frame) like Mike Jackson, you want them to be bigger."

Horn is 6-1, 200 pounds, while Jackson is 6-1, 210 pounds.

"They match up the same size as me," cackled Nacua, waving at his own frame, almost tickled at the possibility of finding not one, but two big corners on the same field. "They're not scared to get in the run game. They play the ball, and they have ball skills. When you have length at that position, it just makes things a little bit more difficult."

The pinnacle of the Pro Bowl Games is the flag football game on Tuesday evening. Jaycee Horn might not be able to fully employ the physicality that stood out to Nacua this season in a flag matchup, but he can chase interceptions (Horn snagged one in last year's Pro Bowl) and maybe even chase Byard once again.

Byard is ready for the challenge; he's just waiting for Horn to walk on the field.

Said Byard of Horn, "He's a really good, obviously a phenomenal player."