CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears have been preparing this week to play the Washington Commanders — this season’s version, not last season’s.
One thing has become clear this week at Halas Hall: Not many are interested in relitigating the heartbreaking 18-15 loss last October at Northwest Stadium, in which Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson got distracted by fans while the final play was in progress and then accidentally tipped Jayden Daniels’ Hail Mary pass into Noah Brown’s waiting hands.
“New team, new year, new opportunities to win a game,” defensive back Josh Blackwell said. “That’s behind us.”
The rematch means “nothing,” Stevenson said. “It’s a 1-0 game. I had a bad play. It is what it is.”
“Does it still sting?” quarterback Caleb Williams pondered. “Obviously you don’t want to lose, especially in that fashion of a Hail Mary.”
Williams had orchestrated a go-ahead touchdown drive that preceded that desperation play. And after that game went awry, so did the Bears season. They went on a 10-game skid, during which coach Matt Eberflus was fired.
Just like this season, that fateful game took place in October, on the road, and the Bears were coming off a bye. But they don’t appear spooked by that ghost of games past.
“(We’re not) going down the rabbit hole of the revenge title or anything like that,” Williams said. “This team is different than last year. The coaching obviously is different. A bunch of things are different.
“So (that means) being able to focus on us and be able to lead these guys the way they need to be led and be able to go out there and focus on what we need to focus on to be able to win.”
Here are three things we learned Wednesday at Halas Hall:
Is Tyrique Stevenson relishing his return to Washington — or dreading it?
The loss to the Commanders was a career low point for Stevenson. The Bears defense, staked to a 15-12 lead, just had to survive the final 19 seconds to preserve a win.
Stevenson, infamously, had his back turned while interacting with fans in the stands when the ball was snapped on the final play. He hurried over to the scrum of Bears defenders and Commanders receivers and tried to bat the ball away, but he inadvertently tipped it backward to Brown.
Game-loser in the worst way.
Whether Stevenson was celebrating with visiting Bears fans, as he said at the time, or taunting Commanders fans didn’t change the result or make it any more palatable in Chicago.
The backlash — not just local but nationwide — was unequivocal as the clip went viral on social media.
“It was harsh. It hurt my feelings,” Stevenson said Wednesday. “That’s the best way I can explain it — it just hurt my feelings, being a football player and having one of those mistakes that’s going to linger around.
“Even when my son grows up, I’ve got to explain that to him.”
And what would he tell him?
“Wait till you know the clock hit double zeroes to celebrate,” Stevenson said. “Just stick to the basics, do your job and when the clock hits double zero, then you celebrate.”
Not surprisingly, Stevenson wasn’t eager to relive the worst moment of his career.
“Not at all,” he said with a grin. “But here we are today. I’m here for all questions to give y’all answers.”
Stevenson said he grew from the experience. In the aftermath, he apologized to teammates but struck a defensive posture to opinions “outside the building.”
Asked about how he handled the situation in retrospect, he said: “I’m a man and I stand on integrity. The best thing I could do was go address it and let the guys know and the world know that that’s not who I am, but that’s who I showed.
“The only thing I can do from then on is show my actions have changed so I can become a better man and a better football player.”
He said teammates supported him at the time, but “being honest, I got a couple side-eyes. … I put a bad play on film. The best thing they could do was come around and put their arm around me and be like, ‘We got you.’”
Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds chalked it up to a teachable moment: “Obviously you try not to make those mistakes again.”
As Stevenson told safety Kevin Byard III recently on Byard’s “Intercepted” podcast, he appreciates having gone through that ordeal now “because I would have never changed.”
“I had success with my mindset and what I was doing at that time,” Stevenson said. “And I felt like with that situation, it was just preparing me to grow and to mature.”
Stevenson already has had a measure of redemption this season. He played a major role in both Bears victories.
His strip and fumble recovery of Dallas Cowboys running back Javonte Williams on the opening drive completely changed the momentum of that game, a 31-14 home victory. And he had an interception and a fumble recovery in the Bears’ 25-24 road win against the Las Vegas Raiders.
“The best thing I could do is just show that I’m one of the top corners in this league,” he said. “And that’s what the last two (weeks) has been.”
With No. 1 corner Jaylon Johnson out after groin sugery, Stevenson has stepped up and produced a team-best 71.3 passer rating allowed (among qualified defensive backs) despite being targeted a team-high 21 times, according to Next Gen Stats.
Coach Ben Johnson said Stevenson has gotten better at compartmentalizing each game, and it has shown in his performance.
“Those corners, they have to have short memories,” Johnson said. “If it’s a bad play, you’ve got to be able to erase it. And if it’s a good play, same thing. You’ve got to turn on to the next one.
“He’s done a nice job of getting that mental toughness up to a point where he can block out all that outside noise and continue to stay consistent with both his process on a weekly basis but also within a game.”
If corners need a short memory from play to play, that certainly can apply from season to season.
“Going back to a hostile environment, they’re going to do their best job to rattle me as much as they can,” Stevenson said. “But the best thing I can do is come out and show these 10 guys (on defense) I’m locked in and ready to go.”
The running game is a puzzle.
The Bears have the league’s worst stuff rate (22.2%), yet they’re 10th in yards before contact per carry (1.57), according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
Could the reason be their NFL-low 2.24 yards after contact?
D’Andre Swift, who’s averaging 3.3 yards per carry, said: “We need 11 people to do their job. I said we are very close. We know that as an offense.”
Johnson said it’s hard to point the finger at the running backs, based on what he has seen on film, which has shown free-running defenders clogging the holes where the play is designed to go.
“I take it personally because I actually spend more time on the run game than I do on the passing game,” he said. “And not only trying to create explosives in the running game but being sound and (taking) a lot of pride in our execution of the fundamentals.
“And we’re not quite there yet. … You get linebackers that are coming downhill and pulling you off your double teams, and we’re just not reacting fast enough right now.”
Cairo Santos and Colston Loveland returned to practice.
Kicker Cairo Santos (quadriceps), tight end Colston Loveland (hip), linebacker T.J. Edwards (hamstring) and nickel back Kyler Gordon (hamstring) participated in the portion of practice open to the media.
Three players were absent: safety Jaquan Brisker (undisclosed), defensive tackle Grady Jarrett (knee) and offensive tackle Darnell Wright (elbow).
Johnson said Santos will be evaluated daily. Punter Tory Taylor handled the final kickoff in Week 4 in Las Vegas.
“We’ll see as we go through the week how he’s feeling and how he’s looking,” Johnson said of Santos.
Loveland told the Chicago Tribune on Tuesday he plans to play Monday night, and Gordon told reporters he’s ready to make his season debut.
Gordon sat out the season opener against the Minnesota Vikings on “Monday Night Football” and said he missed the spotlight.
“I want to play in those games, those big-time games,” he said. “So (it was) definitely sad. But it is what it is. Got another one. Come back full circle. Monday night again. So here we go.”
Gordon was around the ball a lot last season, producing 75 tackles (fifth on the Bears), five pass breakups and a team-leading three fumble recoveries. Johnson called him a playmaker who lets the Bears “unlock a few things on defense.”
“There’s only a handful of nickels in this league that you really have to account for, both as a coverage player but also as a guy who likes to be nosy in the run game and could be part of the solution for us in shoring up our run game as well,” Johnson said. “He’s got those natural football instincts that are really hard to coach and hard to teach, and when you have enough players like that, that’s where you really take off in a hurry.”
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