Short answer, yes, Ibn Kathir [in tafsir] provides Ahadeeth that the Prophet had guards.
At the start of his prophethood, the Prophet's uncle [Abu Taleb] was a respected man among Qurayesh, and the disbelievers couldn't cross lines with Muhammad till Abu Taleb died.
We also know from the Sunnah that the Prophet was targeted for assassinations from the polytheists and Jews alike, he was being hunted down during Hijra with Abu Bakr [RA], and later he was a military leader, killing him would have been a must to stop Islam, didn't the Jews try to poison him in Khaybar?
https://sunnah.com/abudawud:4512
We also must acknowledge that the Prophet [PBUH] was not a man of speech, but a man of actions:
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ، حَدَّثَنَا حَيْوَةُ، أَخْبَرَنِي بَكْرُ بْنُ عَمْرٍو، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ عَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ هُبَيْرَةَ، يَقُولُ إِنَّهُ سَمِعَ أَبَا تَمِيمٍ الْجَيْشَانِيَّ، يَقُولُ سَمِعَ عُمَرَ بْنَ الْخَطَّابِ، رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ يَقُولُ إِنَّهُ سَمِعَ نَبِيَّ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ لَوْ أَنَّكُمْ تَتَوَكَّلُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ حَقَّ تَوَكُّلِهِ لَرَزَقَكُمْ كَمَا يَرْزُقُ الطَّيْرَ تَغْدُو خِمَاصًا وَتَرُوحُ بِطَانًا.
Umar bin al Khattab heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: `If you were to put your trust in Allah as you should, you would be given provision like the birds: they go out hungry in the morning and come back with full bellies in the evening.
The Prophet was not a Sufist, he took all lawful solutions and left the unknown to his Lord, and it's logical that any leader with a group of followers will have a circle of men protecting him, almost all of the Prophets had Companions moving with them:
عن ابن مسعود رضي الله عنه أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: "ما من نبي بعثه الله في أمة قبلي إلا كان له من أمته حواريون وأصحاب يأخذون بسنته ويقتدون بأمره، ثم إنها تختلف من بعدهم خلوف يقولون مالا يفعلون ويفعلون ما لا يؤمرون، فمن جاهدهم بيده فهو مؤمن، ومن جاهدهم بقلبه فهو مؤمن، ومن جاهدهم بلسانه فهو مؤمن ، وليس وراء ذلك الإيمان حبة خردل"
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Never a Prophet had been sent before me by Allah to his people but he had, among his people, (his) disciples and companions, who followed his ways and obeyed his command. Then there came after them their successors who proclaimed what they did not practise, and practised what they were not commanded to do. And (he) who strove against them with his hand is a believer; he who strove against them with his heart is a believer; and he who strove against them with his tongue is a believer ; and beyond that there is no grain of Faith".
