Bears CB Tyrique Stevenson unbowed by Hail Mary aftermath

The Hail Mary debacle against the Commanders has defined a season gone wrong — the Bears haven’t won since that dark day on October 27. But cornerback Tyrique Stevenson is resolute that it won’t define him.

“It’s gonna be what it is, for the rest of my life,” Stevenson said. “It was a play that I was trying to help my team win. But I feel like what I did before the play is overshadowing the fact that I tried to slap the ball down and send my team home with a victory. It’s literally a lesson learned. A life-changing event. All I can do is move forward.”

Stevenson infamously failed his responsibility twice on a play that was bound to live forever in Bears history the moment it happened, but with even greater ignominy now that the team has been unable to recover from it.

Stevenson was engaging with fans in the stands with his back to the play after the ball was snapped. And then he inadvertently deflected Jayden Daniels’ pass to Commanders receiver Noah Brown — the player he was supposed to box out — for the winning touchdown.

Stevenson, who was benched by then coach Matt Eberflus for two series in the following game against the Cardinals, knows fans are down on him for his role in that loss. But the 2023 second-round draft pick hasn’t lost any of the trademark confidence.

“I feel excellent. I feel I’m having a great year,” Stevenson said. “If you’re gonna take one play and use that to brand me as a bad player, that’s on you. That’s your opinion. Have a great life — and I still love you.

“And to the fans, I love them. We’ve got some great fans. But I wake up and come to this building and I do my job. You can critique my job because . . . I lost a regular-season game. But I definitely feel I’m having a solid season despite the one mistake I made. If that’s what’s making me a bad player, I don’t understand it.”

Stevenson, 24, entered the season as a potential star on a rising defense — and opened with a game-turning pick-six in a 24-17 victory in Week 1 against the Titans. But the Commanders game (besides the Hail Mary, he also allowed a 61-yard pass play earlier in that game), a $8,143 fine for taunting against the Colts in Week 3 and a $19,697 fine for tripping Lions receiver Jameson Williams on Thanksgiving, likely have given the Bears reason for concern.

Stevenson is an aggressive player whose edgy approach makes him impactful on the field, but also leads him astray. General manager Ryan Poles, though, doesn’t have as much cushion to take risks that he once did. And the Bears already have Terell Smith in place at his position.

But Stevenson is unbowed.

“I’m holding up pretty good,” he said. “It’s been one hell of a season, but that comes with football. Sometimes you make plays that are good. Sometimes you make bad plays and people remember you for that. But the season’s been good. I’m still a Chicago Bear — that’s all that matters. And the guys in the locker room have been keeping me up.”