The Hail Mary debacle against the Commanders has defined a season gone wrong — the Bears haven’t won since that dark day on October 27 in Landover, Md. But cornerback Tyrique Stevenson is resolute that it won’t define him.
“It’s gonna be what it is, for the rest of my life,” Stevenson said. “It was a play that I was trying to help my team win. But I feel like what I did before the play is overshadowing the fact that I tried to slap the ball down and send my team home with a victory. It’s literally a lesson learned. A life-changing event. All I can do is move forward.”
Stevenson infamously failed his responsibility twice on a play that was bound to live forever in Bears history the moment it happened, but with even greater ignominy now that the Bears have been unable to recover from it.
Stevenson was caught engaging with fans in the stands at Northwest Stadium, with his back to the play after the ball was snapped. And when he turned around and got into the play, he tried to deflect Jayden Daniels’ pass instead of boxing out receiver Noah Brown. As fate would have it, Stevenson tipped the ball back to Brown, who made an easy catch for a stunning 52-yard game-winning touchdown.
Stevenson was benched by then coach Matt Eberflus for two series in the following game against the Cardinals and has since continued to split the cornerback job opposite Jaylon Johnson with Terrell Smith. And he knows fans are down on him for his role in that loss. But the 2023 second-round draft pick hasn’t lost any of the trademark confidence.
“I feel excellent. I feel I’m having a great year,” Stevenson said. “If you’re gonna take one play and use that to brand me as a bad player, that’s on you. That’s your opinion. Have a great life — and I still love you.
“And to the fans, I love them. We’ve got some great fans. But I wake up and come to this building I do my job. You can critique my job because … I lost a regular-season game. But I definitely feel I’m having a solid season despite the one mistake I made. If that’s what’s making me a bad player, I don’t understand it.”
Stevenson, 24, came into the season as a potential star in a rising Bears defense — and opened the season with a game-turning pick-6 in a 24-17 victory over the Titans. But the Commanders game (besides the Hail Mary, he also allowed a 61-yard pass play earlier in that game), an $8,143 fine for taunting against the Colts in Week 3 and a $19,697 fine for tripping Lions receiver Jameson Williams on Thanksgiving, likely have given the Bears reason for concern.
Stevenson is an aggressive player whose edgy approach makes him impactful on the field but also leads him astray. But general manager Ryan Poles doesn’t have as much cushion to take risks that he once did. And the Bears already have Smith in place at his position.
But Stevenson is unbowed.
“I’m holding up pretty good,” he said. “It’s been one hell of a season, but that comes with football. Sometimes you make plays that are good. Sometimes you make bad plays and people remember you for that. But the season’s been good. I’m still a Chicago Bear — that’s all that matters. And the guys in the locker room have been keeping me up.”
And Stevenson is disputing the fine against the Lions. While standing on the sideline — not in the play — Stevenson appeared to move his right foot to trip Williams.
“I’m just waiting to talk to the [league] so I can tell them, ‘You’re reaching,’” Stevenson said. “‘You’re slowing the video down three, four times to find the angle of me dong something.’ It is what it is.”