Bears CB Tyrique Stevenson’s preseason ‘could’ve been a lot better,’ but he’s ready now

The stakes are high for general manager Ryan Poles’ early-round draft picks. He has to be right on nearly all of them to keep his rebuild on schedule.

That means Poles and the Bears have a lot riding on rookie cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, whom Poles picked in the second round at No. 56 overall out of Miami. His turbulent preseason continued in the 24-21 loss to the Bills on Saturday with an interception and two penalties.

But takeaways trump all with coach Matt Eberflus, and Stevenson’s pick late in the first quarter against backup quarterback Kyle Allen is exactly what the Bears want to see — especially since he didn’t let the two defensive holding flags derail his day.

“As a young player, you’re going to have a lot of learning experiences,” Eberflus said. “The ability to bounce back and have a nice interception and be able to just come back and play the next play [is positive]. And that’s going to happen during the course of the year.”

Stevenson’s resilience has been tested repeatedly over the last month, and he has survived. He appears to have a strong hold on the starting outside cornerback position opposite Jaylon Johnson. That was the plan when Poles picked him, including second-year cornerback Kyler Gordon at nickel, but quite a bit transpired in between.

Fellow rookie Terell Smith, a fifth-rounder from Minnesota, started cutting into Stevenson’s first-team snaps early in training camp.

Then, the preseason games filled up both sides of the ledger for Stevenson. He had seven tackles, including one for loss, and a pass breakup against the Titans in his debut, but also got a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness for a late hit.

A week later against the Colts, Stevenson was flagged for another late hit and let a would-be interception slip through his hands in the end zone for a touchdown catch by Juwann Winfree.

“It could’ve been a lot better,” Stevenson said of his preseason. “I made some rookie mistakes, but I also felt like I grew in my knowledge and how I understand the game. I’ve gotta improve a lot come Game 1.”

That’s in two weeks, when the Bears open the season at home against the Packers. And while Stevenson is right to scrutinize his flaws, because opponents certainly will, he’s much more poised for the challenge than he was when he arrived at Halas Hall.

“I understand what’s going on and what the coaches want from me,” he said. “I understand my purpose on this team and what I need to work on to be able to contribute. I’ve got a handle on things now.”

The interception against the Bills was encouraging in every aspect. Stevenson read the route precisely, made his move in front of wide receiver Gabe Davis at the right moment and stayed in bounds.

Allen went deep to Davis on an out route to the left sideline, and Stevenson was on him the whole way. He cut the pass off and showed great awareness getting both feet down before his momentum carried him out.

It was such a good move that he didn’t believe it.

“I didn’t think I had it,” he admitted. “I just knew I caught [the ball]. I was like, ‘I got two feet in? Oh, OK.’ I was just out there having fun.”

As that piece of Poles’ and Eberflus’ plan materializes, they need the rest of it to come together. Safeties Eddie Jackson and Jaquan Brisker have been out multiple weeks, and the Bears started backups Elijah Hicks and A.J. Thomas in their place.

With Jackson and Brisker sitting, as well as defensive end DeMarcus Walker, Bills quarterback Josh Allen rolled the starting defense for a 72-yard touchdown drive in his only action. He breezed by the Bears completing 5 of 7 passes for 49 yards, and running back James Cook ran five times for 20 yards.