Bears CB Tyrique Stevenson grasps the gravity of the ‘Fail Mary’

Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson will have to explain his most infamous play to his son one day. He has plenty of time to sort it out — Tyrique Jr. is only 6 months old — but he knows the lesson he wants to impart.

‘‘When you [are] in the game, it’s a mind-over-matter mentality,’’ he said. ‘‘Just stick to the basics, do your job. And when the clock hits double-zero, then you celebrate.’’

It took almost a year, but Stevenson finally seems to understand the gravity of his ‘‘Fail Mary.’’ Standing at his locker Wednesday at Halas Hall, he admitted the mistake is what he’s best known for. It’s his job, he said, to give people better reasons to know his name.

The Bears were seconds away from a Week 8 victory last season when the Commanders walked to the line of scrimmage, ready to launch a ‘‘Hail Mary’’ from their 48-yard line. Stevenson had his back to the ball when it was snapped, having turned around to gesture toward fans in the corner of the stadium. When he realized the Commanders were running a play, Stevenson sprinted toward the circle of receivers and defenders on the other side of the end zone. Rather than box out wide receiver Noah Brown, which was his job, he jumped and tipped the ball backward — and into Brown’s arms for a 52-yard touchdown.

Stevenson soon apologized to his teammates. But when he was told he was being benched for the start of the Bears’ next game, he left practice, disgusted.

His teammates supported him publicly, but not everyone was in his corner. He felt that.

‘‘Being honest, I got a couple of side-eyes,’’ he said.

It was the first of 10 consecutive losses, a stretch that claimed the Bears’ head coach and offensive coordinator.

‘‘It just hurt my feelings, being a football player and having one of those mistakes that’s going to linger around,’’ Stevenson said. ‘‘It still hurts. I’m a football player, and the last thing I wanna do is have a play that’s not so good and my name be memorable.’’

If Stevenson hurts now, just wait until he returns to Northwest Stadium, the site of the ‘‘Fail Mary,’’ on Monday night. Opposing fans will be in his ear. It’s his job to ignore them this time.

‘‘By remembering that there’s 10 [defensive] guys that I’ve been working with all week to prepare for this game,’’ he said of how he’s going to do that. ‘‘And they’re the only 10 guys I’ve gotta answer to.’’

Stevenson can sympathize with other players whose mistakes became leaguewide news. The most recent example was Cardinals running back Emari Demercado, who dropped the ball at the goal line Sunday when he should have scored a 72-yard touchdown.

‘‘It just goes back to being a football player and wanting to make that play for your team and wanting to be the reason that everybody is smiling in the locker room,’’ Stevenson said. ‘‘And just to go out there and put [out] a bad play and just have one mistake that could last so long is definitely, definitely hurtful to the team — and to yourself.

‘‘Definitely feel for those guys. But just like with my situation, the only thing you do is learn from it and keep going.’’

After giving up a perfect passer rating in the first two weeks of this season, Stevenson has been the dynamic cornerback the Bears envisioned when they drafted him in the second round in 2023. He stripped a fumble in Week 3 and picked off a pass in Week 4.

‘‘That’s not who I am, and I put that on film,’’ he said. ‘‘And the best thing I could do is just show that I’m one of the top corners in this league. And that’s what the last two [games] have been, just me diving within myself and proving to the world that I am who I say I am.’’