By the time Tyrique Stevenson woke up this past Monday, the day following a Hail Mary play that shook the football world, the Bears cornerback was internet famous for all the wrong reasons.
Clips of Stevenson's celebratory gestures toward Washington fans just before Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels connected with wide receiver Noah Brown for a desperation game-winning touchdown on Oct. 27 were everywhere.
The memorable moment led to a multi-step process this week for Stevenson to not only publicly express himself and apologize for his actions before the play, but prove to the team that he's learned from and can grow from what transpired at the end of the Week 8 loss.
But sources say that Stevenson, who has started every game this season for Chicago, will not start in today's game against the Cardinals, a one-week demotion because of his actions on the Hail Mary play. Stevenson will be active, though, and is expected to rotate in with cornerback Terell Smith.
If all goes well, this is expected to be the last step in the process to unwind from a tumultuous week that began when he was seen motioning to fans rather than putting a body on Brown before the game-winning catch.
Stevenson publicly apologized on social media the night of the game, saying, "Notes taken, improvement will happen." He then apologized to teammates in person on Monday, later telling reporters, "I know I let them down and those guys hold me to a higher standard such as everybody in this building. ... I let the moment get too big and it's something that can never happen again."
Today's demotion is the final step in the process, and the hope is it will only be a one-week disciplinary action.
What the Bears want is that Stevenson gets better from this. It's also clear, sources say, that teammates and coaches have Stevenson's back for how he handled the aftermath and for who he is as a player and person. The key is for this to be a small lapse, rather than the start of a larger issue.
Head coach Matt Eberflus said this past Monday that Stevenson's job on the Hail Mary was to box out Brown, but instead he was late coming over and tipped the ball to Brown. While it appeared in the viral video that he was trash-talking Commanders fans, Stevenson clarified, "I was just cheering with some Bears fans and the Washington fans reacted how they wanted to."
The result was an iconic play for the Commanders and Daniels and a play that will live in infamy for the Bears following a game they thought they had won. The plan is to take the lessons from it and move on.
