The Chicago Bears are still gathering information about the shoulder injury that forced cornerback Tyrique Stevenson to exit early from Week 7’s win over the New Orleans Saints, but their latest update on him sounds vaguely positive.
Stevenson sustained a shoulder injury in the final minute of the second quarter during Sunday’s 26-14 win over the Saints and did not return to the game, raising immediate concerns about the starting cornerback’s availability for the Bears’ upcoming games.
Encouragingly, Bears head coach Ben Johnson indicated Monday that the team has no long-term concerns about Stevenson’s injury, but he added that the staff is still trying to determine the extent of his injury and cannot say yet whether he will play in Week 7.
“We’ll find out more on Wednesday for sure, but we’re thinking more day-to-day, week-to-week right now [with them],” Johnson said Monday of both Stevenson and tight end Cole Kmet, who also exited in the second half against the Saints with a back injury.
Bears Cannot Afford to Lose Tyrique Stevenson to Injury
Stevenson has played a vital role for the Bears defense throughout their current four-game winning streak. Not only has he rebounded from last year’s wildly inconsistent sophomore campaign, but he has also stepped up as the Bears’ No. 1 cornerback after the team was forced to place All-Pro Jaylon Johnson on injured reserve last month.
According to Pro Football Reference, Stevenson has allowed just five completions for 39 yards and zero touchdowns on 17 total targets against his coverage in the five games that he has played without Johnson on the field. Opposing passers have completed just 28.6% of their passes into his coverage in the four games since Johnson landed on IR.
In other words, it would become a major headache for the Bears if they have to figure out how to replace Stevenson in their lineup due to injury in the coming weeks.
The good news? The sky is not falling just yet with Stevenson and the Bears.
The Bears are unlikely to provide another update on Stevenson before Wednesday when they release their initial injury report for Week 7’s game against the Baltimore Ravens, but his practice participation throughout the week may offer clues as to his availability. If he practices, even in a limited capacity, it would bode well for him playing on Sunday.
Could Bears Seek More CB Help Before Trade Deadline?
The Bears will hold out hope that further evaluation on Stevenson’s shoulder does not present them with any availability-threatening issues. If Stevenson’s injury does cause him to miss time, though, could the Bears potentially make a trade for a cornerback?
Coming into Week 7, the Bears are already dangerously thin at the cornerback position. Johnson is on IR for the foreseeable future, potentially the rest of the season. They also shut down two of their projected depth corners — Terell Smith and rookie Zah Frazier — before August’s roster cutdown, forcing them to adapt their active roster on the fly.
While the Bears showed a willingness to power through their depth issues early in the season — when they knew Kyler Gordon would eventually return — they might feel a greater sense of urgency to fix the problem if Stevenson’s injury outlooks grow ugly.
After all, it is hard to imagine them trusting a combination of Nahshon Wright, Josh Blackwell and Nick McCloud as their top perimeter players, even in the short term.
The Bears will have until 4 p.m. ET on November 4 to finalize any trades this season.
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