Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson mentions the “Fail Mary” before you have a chance to.
One mistake, he said, can get you cast aside by the rest of the NFL. He’s lived it.
“One play could just … As far as injury, as far as mistakes, as far as anything, this league will forget about you in a heartbeat,” he told the Sun-Times earlier this week. “For me, it’s just constantly sitting on my brain every time I touch the field — ‘Just go out there and lay it on the line and stay focused.’
“I think for that, that’s how I look at it, just an internal motivation. Every play matters. Every play matters.”
That’s especially true for Stevenson, whether it’s a training camp snap or the last throw of a 2024 loss against the Commanders. That misplay — Stevenson had his back to the ball, jawing at fans, before misplaying Jayden Daniels’ 52-yard game-winning heave — will follow Stevenson for the rest of his career. His goal is to make it feel, eventually, like more of a footnote.
“From the Hail Mary, my mindset is, go out here every play and show who you can be, and dominate,” he said, “and everything will fall in line.”
He knows the stakes in Year 4. So do the Bears.
Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen can put on tape from Stevenson last year that was astoundingly good — and then watch lapses that were maddening. Coaches spent the offseason urging Stevenson to become the steady presence the defense sorely needs.
“Tyrique needs to be more consistent,” Allen said.
That goes beyond the practice field, coach Ben Johnson said. He’s seen growth in Stevenson since the end of last season, when he took a backseat to the team’s two starting outside cornerbacks.
“It’s really the focus level from being in the building, paying attention in meetings and continuing to apply that on the field throughout a two-plus hour practice,” Johnson said. “So I think we’ve seen strides there. It’s certainly improving … He knows it. So we’re pretty happy with where he’s at.”
Stevenson has been working at it. Stability in his personal life — he got engaged July 4 — has allowed him to focus his attention on his tasks inside Halas Hall.
“You have everything on the outside complete,” he said, “so let’s turn around and go be an all-pro.”
Despite posting the best Pro Football Focus grades of any of his three seasons, Stevenson’s playing time dwindled last season. Counting the playoffs, Stevenson didn’t start five out of the 15 games in which he was healthy. In his first two seasons, he started all but two of 32 — and one was the oh-so-brief benching after the “Fail Mary.” Stevenson played just 18 defensive snaps in Week 17 and none in Week 18. He appeared in 14 snaps in the Bears’ playoff win against the Packers and 18 in their loss to the Rams.
For Stevenson, this season is the last chance for him to prove that he’s a reliable starter before he becomes a free agent in March. He’s run with the starters every day during training camp, with a banged-up Terell Smith and fourth-round rookie Malik Muhammad II playing behind him.
During camp practices, Stevenson is being tested by receiver Luther Burden, who’s earned praise from almost everyone inside Halas Hall this offseason, and held his own. Tuesday, he intercepted Caleb Williams after a miscommunication between the quarterback and tight end Colston Loveland.
“He’s been challenging us,” Burden said. “Making plays out there.”
He’ll be targeted when games begin, too — teams will avoid throwing toward two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who’s recovered from last year’s groin surgery.
Stevenson has the physical skills to be dominant — that’s been apparent since the team made him the 56th pick in 2023. When he makes mistakes, he said, they’re rooted in subtleties of his technique. That comes down to focus.
“It’s one of the things I do daily to keep my mind coming back to the main point — focus and lock in and make the play you know you can make,” he said. “The frustrating part is, ‘We’ve seen you make the plays and we’ve seen you make them multiple times. So why not this time?’”
What the future holds, he’s not sure. Stevenson tries not to think about free agency. He knows it won’t help his mindset.
“I don’t want to create an extra block of worry or anxiety that’s not needed,” he said.
The Bears need him more than ever. They let cornerback Nahshon Wright, the NFL’s takeaways leader last season, leave via free agency because they believed Stevenson was ready to retake his starting role. The pressure on the position has only ratcheted up during training camp because of the injuries to slot cornerback Kyler Gordon and safety Coby Bryant. Gordon, who hurt his calf, has no timeline to return. Bryant, who hurt his knee earlier this week, will miss at least two months. Were the season to start today, Jaylon Jones, the Bears’ third-string slot cornerback, would be the starter.
Stevenson, then, needs to become the least of the Bears’ concerns.
“Tyrique is on a contract year,” Jaylon Johnson said. “He’s got to prove himself.”