DETROIT -- This week, Chicago Bears defensive end Willie Young spent almost 20 minutes on a conference call with Detroit reporters, cracking jokes, answering questions about his time with the Lions, and generally enjoying himself.

See, Thanksgiving Day was his first trip back to Detroit as an opponent instead of a Lions player, and though this happens a decent amount in the NFL, there was still some excitement from the fifth-year pro out of North Carolina State.

Detroit beat Chicago, 34-17, and after, Young still enjoyed the experience as he scooped out a helping of a postgame Thanksgiving meal set up for Bears’ players to grab before heading to their bus.

"Fun, man," Young said. "A lot of adrenaline. It took me like a quarter to kind of settle down. Just amped up, man. Hyped, man.

"But it was fun. It was fun. We’ll see these guys again."

Young played 64 of 73 snaps against his former team -- second-most of any Chicago defensive lineman behind Jared Allen, who played every snap -- but was fairly quiet. He defended one pass and hurried Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford once.

He did sack Stafford once, too, but it was wiped off the board by a roughing-the-passer penalty on Young.

The Lions had some fun with Young, too. Before the start of some possessions, Young, Allen and Dominic Raiola would have chats while waiting for the game to start up again. And after Andre Fluellen -- who is close with Young -- sacked Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler, he imitated Young’s fishing reel sack dance and then looked to the Chicago bench.