Dennis Allen is not feeling sentimental.

The Chicago Bears defensive coordinator is preparing to face the New Orleans Saints, the team that fired him as its head coach nearly a year ago. Asked about it Thursday at Halas Hall, Allen was all business.

“I spent 15 out of my 24 years in the league at that place, so obviously I’ve got a lot of fond memories of being there,” Allen said. “And yet, it’s another game.”

Allen coached two stints as an assistant with the Saints and has been a head coach twice in the league (with the Raiders from 2012-14 and the Saints from 2022-24). He had the unenviable task of replacing a legend in Sean Payton after Payton stepped away in 2022.

Now, he has come to Chicago to run coach Ben Johnson’s defense. But Allen’s presence is so much more than that for the

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