Third-year Chicago Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson is slated to revisit the scene of a career-worst moment next Monday.
Last season, the 25-year-old snatched defeat from the jaws of victory when he inadvertently tipped a 52-yard Hail Mary pass to the end zone from Pro Bowl Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels into the waiting hands of Noah Brown for a game-derailing touchdown.
NO WORDS. NONE. pic.twitter.com/pRPNSG3CgW
— NFL (@NFL) October 27, 2024
Stevenson's botched coverage over Brown and his inability to gather the ball or hit it to the ground blew the game, leading to a narrow 18-15 Commanders victory and helping plant the seeds to unravel Chicago's season. That said, Stevenson is certainly not the only responsible party there. The Bears eventually canned head coach Matt Eberflus mid-season, ultimately replacing him this year with innovative former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
'Push It Aside'
“With that incident, the biggest thing I did was continually push it aside,” Stevenson told The Athletic's Dan Wiederer. “And rationalize it. Like, ‘Every football player has a bad play.’ Instead of looking at it head-on and accepting that that was me in that moment and that I needed to fix some things about myself.”
MORE NEWS: Bears' Rome Odunze gives strong message about Ben Johnson
Stevenson acknowledged that the moment will be “forever burned on my career,” although in the moment he wasn't even aware that he was the culprit behind the botched defensive moment.
Things seem to be looking up for him — and Chicago — in 2025 so far, as they prepare to return to the scene of the crime, Northwest Stadium, in a tilt against the Commanders scheduled for a "Monday Night Football" broadcast next week.
So far this season, the 6-foot, 212-pound Miami product has notched 14 solo tackles, five pass deflections, one interception and one forced fumble.
Stevenson has a cornerback colleague slated to return to the field on Monday.
Sean Hammond of The Chicago Tribune reports that nickel cornerback Kyle Gordon intends to make his 2025 season debut from a hamstring injury next week.
"I will be playing, yes," Gordon revealed at Halas Hall on Tuesday. “Obviously I love playing ball, being out there and being in the building, being able to actually contribute to the team.”
MORE NEWS: Bears QB Caleb Williams draws candid take after beating Raiders
Chicago is riding high on a two-game win streak, and will look to improve to a record over .500 against the 3-2 Washington Commanders. Washington is being led under center by Caleb Williams' fellow 2024 first-round draftee Jayden Daniels, who handily beat Williams out for Offensive Rookie of the Year honors.