Embattled Chicago Bear has immature reaction to benching as he pulls himself out of practice
The Chicago Bears may have a problem. Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson pulled himself out of practice Wednesday when he was told that he was going to be benched this week for his actions in the loss to the Washington Commanders, Jay Glazer reported on Fox NFL Sunday. Stevenson batted the ball up into the air and in the waiting arms of Noah Brown, for the game-winning touchdown “Here’s the deal, they’re benching him today,” Glazer said. “He’s being demoted, he’s not starting. “But on Wednesday, when he found out he wasn’t starting, he actually pulled himself out of practice. “That didn’t exactly go over great inside that locker room. We talked about Anthony Richardson getting his teammate’s trust back, same for Tyrique Stevenson.” Head coach Matt Eberflus decided to bench Stevenson after his massive gaffe led to Jayden Daniels‘ Hail Mary into the end zone as time expired, to give the Washington Commanders a miraculous 18-15 win over the Bears. Not only did Stevenson not correctly stick to his assignment, which was covering receiver Noah Brown, who caught the touchdown, but as the ball was snapped, the Bears cornerback was caught on video taunting fans, with his back turned to the action. The entire play was a nightmare for Stevenson. Now he’s paying the price. And the benching is deserved. Eberflus is sending a message to his younger player, and team, that mistakes like Stevenson’s won’t be tolerated. Especially when it costs you a game. Stevenson will still be in the rotation, he just won’t be starting (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) The Chicago Bears sit at 4-3, currently last in the ultra competitive NFC North. They can’t afford to give games away like they did in Washington. They are on the road in a massive game against Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals who seem to be finding their groove as of late, coming off consecutive wins over the Los Angeles Chargers and Miami Dolphins. After the trip to Arizona, Chicago is home versus New England and then begins the daunting part of their schedule. Home versus Green and Minnesota, then on the road against Detroit, San Francisco and Minnesota again. In other words, they have no room for error. Stevenson needs to shake off what happened in Washington, take the benching on the chin, and move forward to help this team in any way he can. ESPN’s Courtney Cronin clarified Glazer’s report. “I’m told that Stevenson did leave practice after the stretching period to gather himself after learning of his demotion from the starting line-up but returned to practice after a couple minutes inside the locker room and came back out for the team periods during walk thru,” Cronin posted on X. “While Stevenson’s teammates have expressed frustrations over how things went down in Washington, there wasn’t anything confrontational due to the cornerback leaving walk thru before returning. “The plan for Stevenson today will be to rotate in… This isn’t a permanent benching by any means. Sources I spoke with this morning and this week have indicated to me that the Bears have strong belief in Stevenson and want to help hold him accountable and allow him to move past his actions that took away his focus from the Commanders game.” Stevenson is no doubt a talented player that the Bears are going to need. It’s on Stevenson to decide how he is going to react from here on out.
The Chicago Bears may have a problem.
Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson pulled himself out of practice Wednesday when he was told that he was going to be benched this week for his actions in the loss to the Washington Commanders, Jay Glazer reported on Fox NFL Sunday.
“Here’s the deal, they’re benching him today,” Glazer said. “He’s being demoted, he’s not starting.
“But on Wednesday, when he found out he wasn’t starting, he actually pulled himself out of practice.
“That didn’t exactly go over great inside that locker room. We talked about Anthony Richardson getting his teammate’s trust back, same for Tyrique Stevenson.”
Head coach Matt Eberflus decided to bench Stevenson after his massive gaffe led to Jayden Daniels‘ Hail Mary into the end zone as time expired, to give the Washington Commanders a miraculous 18-15 win over the Bears.
Not only did Stevenson not correctly stick to his assignment, which was covering receiver Noah Brown, who caught the touchdown, but as the ball was snapped, the Bears cornerback was caught on video taunting fans, with his back turned to the action.
The entire play was a nightmare for Stevenson.
Now he’s paying the price.
And the benching is deserved.
Eberflus is sending a message to his younger player, and team, that mistakes like Stevenson’s won’t be tolerated.
Especially when it costs you a game.
The Chicago Bears sit at 4-3, currently last in the ultra competitive NFC North.
They can’t afford to give games away like they did in Washington.
They are on the road in a massive game against Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals who seem to be finding their groove as of late, coming off consecutive wins over the Los Angeles Chargers and Miami Dolphins.
After the trip to Arizona, Chicago is home versus New England and then begins the daunting part of their schedule.
Home versus Green and Minnesota, then on the road against Detroit, San Francisco and Minnesota again.
In other words, they have no room for error.
Stevenson needs to shake off what happened in Washington, take the benching on the chin, and move forward to help this team in any way he can.
ESPN’s Courtney Cronin clarified Glazer’s report.
“I’m told that Stevenson did leave practice after the stretching period to gather himself after learning of his demotion from the starting line-up but returned to practice after a couple minutes inside the locker room and came back out for the team periods during walk thru,” Cronin posted on X.
“While Stevenson’s teammates have expressed frustrations over how things went down in Washington, there wasn’t anything confrontational due to the cornerback leaving walk thru before returning.
“The plan for Stevenson today will be to rotate in… This isn’t a permanent benching by any means. Sources I spoke with this morning and this week have indicated to me that the Bears have strong belief in Stevenson and want to help hold him accountable and allow him to move past his actions that took away his focus from the Commanders game.”
Stevenson is no doubt a talented player that the Bears are going to need.
It’s on Stevenson to decide how he is going to react from here on out.
