Stevenson on improving his football knowledge, WR room, Caleb Williams |
LAKE FOREST, I.L. - The Chicago Bears defense suffered from injuries last season, particularly in the first half. But one consistent presence was rookie cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, who played in 16 of 17 games.
While his rookie season was a bit of a roller coaster with some blown plays and four interceptions, there is a lot that he took away from last year. “It definitely made me better. It was a hard pill to swallow coming from being one of the dominant corners in college and just coming here and giving up passes, giving up stuff that I normally do not give up,” Stevenson said. “So, it was a hard pill to swallow and just looking back on it, I just take those examples and teach myself not to do those examples and teach myself to be in a better position. Use my hands, use my feet, look at the quarterback, read three steps, so just taking those and just stacking them and learning them and just keep pushing forward.” In his rookie campaign, Stevenson had four interceptions but allowed nine receiving touchdowns. He defended 16 passes but allowed a 60.3 percent completion percentage to opposing quarterbacks. He had 86 tackles but missed another nine. Overall, his campaign was a mixed bag of positives, particularly for a rookie, but also a lot of things to improve on. That is why Stevenson dedicated a lot of time in the offseason to improving his knowledge of the game, minimizing mistakes, and increasing interceptions and other performance metrics. “My knowledge of the game, understanding where the receiver’s at on the field, understanding that certain formations and certain players do certain things and understanding that when you get a certain type of receiver, they only do certain (types) of routes,” Stevenson said. “So, I just (worked) my whole offseason on calling (cornerbacks coach), Coach (Hoke), and just asking him certain questions about this receiver or this receiver or if, ‘Coach, if they motion here, how many possibilities could I get?’ and just going back and forth with him about it.” Last season, DJ Moore was undoubtedly the best receiver on the roster. Now, Stevenson has numerous elite receivers to practice against, including Moore, rookie receiver Rome Odunze, and Keenan Allen, who was acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Chargers. All three receivers have different skill sets, allowing Stevenson to learn even more about covering all different types of receivers. “These receivers bring out different problems. So, just covering them, covering Rome, covering Keenan, covering DJ, covering (receiver) Tyler (Scott), just (gives) you a different aspect of the game of what they bring to the table,” Stevenson said. “So, pretty much any receiver I see this year, (I’ve) already (have) seen the best of the best in practice.” Keenan Allen is a six-time Pro Bowler entering his eleventh season in the NFL. He has played 139 games and can pass a lot of knowledge on to the rest of the receivers and the secondary. Going against Allen in training camp thus far, Stevenson said he is a “magician” in his ability to run routes. “(Keenan’s a) magician. Just the fact that he can stop mid-route, change his whole route or just the fact that he gives you something different than what you (were) expecting,” Stevenson said. “He might break inside, but he’s just doing that just to see on the next play how he (can) get you on the route that’s coming to him.” Despite running a 4.45 40-yard dash in the 2024 NFL Combine, people still underestimate Odunze’s speed. With the combination of his speed and his vast knowledge of the route tree as described by Stevenson, Odunze certainly seems to have the potential to be a dangerous player this upcoming season. “(He’s) sneaky fast. Off the line, you might not realize he’s closing the cushion as fast. But once (he’s) on you, (he’s) on you,” Stevenson said. “So, just the fact that he’s able to run the wheel routes. He’s able to break down and running digs or if you let him, he’ll run right by you. So, just the fact that he can pretty much do every route on the route tree.” This offseason, Stevenson has been getting some words of wisdom from cornerback Charles “Peanut” Tillman who played for the Bears for 12 seasons and is known for his “Peanut Punch” that got him 10 forced fumbles in 2012, an all-time high for a single season. Tillman’s message was to stick to your assignment and perform it to the best of your ability. “Every time you step out on the field, just play your game. If your game is press coverage, press coverage. If your game is off man, off man. Whatever your game is, use it to the best of your ability because at the end of the day, it’s a team sport. You’re not the only guy on the field,” Stevenson said. “So, if you can use your ability and turn that into a superpower and all the other guys turn theirs into a superpower, then we got one unstoppable defense.” Stevenson wants to follow in the footsteps of another Bears great, Hall of Famer Devin Hester. Hester changed the game with his kick-returning abilities, and now that the kickoff rule has changed so drastically, adopting the format used in the former XFL, Stevenson has been practicing to be a kick returner. “I had some hiccups (Thursday), but I definitely know I’m not up on the list. We got other fast guys,” Stevenson said. But I definitely just want to be back there (if) my number is ever called.” While he is testing out being a kick returner, his goals for this season are focused more on improving as a cornerback. Stevenson said he wants to be an All-Pro and get more interceptions, tackles and pass breakups than last season. Practicing with someone who possesses Stevenson's determination must be beneficial to a rookie quarterback like Caleb Williams. Williams also possesses the tenacity to be great, and he has made an impression as a confident player on both sides of the ball, including Stevenson. “He’s a team guy. He’s happy to be here. (He’s) happy to be the quarterback for the Chicago Bears. He (wants) to lead this team to win. I didn’t know him personally. I worked out with some of the guys that went to USC over the summer and they (were) just telling me that he’s a great guy,” Stevenson said. “But, I didn’t know him personally until he got here and just from when he got here day one, he’s been the same person. On the field, off the field and just seeing him come out here everyday with a smile, even though he got a lot of pressure on his shoulders, and just seeing him want to come out here and be the best quarterback that Chicago Bears had.”
