Bears Insist on Keeping Tyrique Stevenson Status Under Wraps

Coach Matt Eberflus wouldn't reveal whether the starting Bears cornerback will be disciplined in some form against Arizona for his mistakes on Sunday's decisive Hail Mary pass.

Tyrique Stevenson leaves the field after the Bears' season-opening win over Tennessee, a game he played in but didn't start. / David Banks-Imagn Images

The starting Bears lineup could be affected greatly by injuries and it's also possible it will be affected by a disciplinary measure.

Coach Matt Eberflus wasn't revealing whether cornerback Tyrique Stevenson would face discipline in the form of a suspension or fine on Friday.

If he doesn't start, it wouldn't be the first time this year.

Stevenson had been facing the wrong direction, hollering at fans as Sunday's final Hail Mary pass unfolded against Washington. Stevenson also took the wrong assignment on the play and then tipped the ball right to the man he was supposed to cover for the points Washington needed to win 18-15.

"I'm not gonna talk about who's gonna be starting there at that particular spot," coach Matt Eberflus said. "Again, I've talked to Tyrique. He's had a really good week of practice. He's done well with refocusing in.

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"And I appreciate his efforts moving into the next phase, which is Arizona."

Eberflus was asked about the significance of who started the season opener at cornerback. Stevenson didn't start in that game and Terell Smith did, but Stevenson came in shorty after the game started.

Stevenson also missed the game in London but it was due to a calf injury suffered in practice.

It gives me no pleasure to announce that Tyrique Stevenson has officially taken the mantle of Chris Conte pic.twitter.com/sx4tiPYdmS

— Bear Weather Fans (@BearWeatherFans) October 28, 2024

"We have rotations for a reason," Eberflus said. "It could be competition. It could be a guy’s coming back and his workloads need to be down.

"It could be a various number of things."

Eberflus was a little more open about injuries. The Bears could get Kyler Gordon back at slot cornerback after a limited practice on Friday, his first since a hamstring injury in London. He's questionable. Defensive end Montez Sweat is also questionable because of a shin injury that kept him from playing on the decisive play last week. He went through one limited practice on Thursday but no others and the Bears are counting on the 48 hours until the game to help with healing so their top pass rusher can start.

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Safety Jaquan Brisker's absence again will raise some eyebrows. He hasn't played since Oct. 6 following his third concussion.

"It's really just about the symptom part of it," Eberflus said. "That's really what it is. Again, he's made progress. He's got into the meetings, he's got into the walkthrough and got into those things and then has those symptoms.

"Again, it's always gonna be about his safety and his health and where he is. Jaquan brings a lot of passion and energy to our team and certainly to our defense. He was having a really good year leading up to this. His health and safety is first and we want to make sure that we do a good job with that first. And then he'll bring back that passion and energy back like he always does."

The other big question is what their offensive line will look like. Eberflus echoed offensive coordinator Shane Waldron in saying they prefer to keep the substations to one at a time rather than create confusion by moving a starter to another position, which then makes it two position changes.

They won't have left tackle Braxton Jones due to a knee injury and backup Kiran Amegadjie has a calf injury. So Larry Borom appears likely to play after spending all season on injured reserve with an ankle problem dating back to training camp.

This would allow them to keep Matt Pryor at right guard. The only fly in the ointment here could be if the knee injury Teven Jenkins has is too severe to allow him to play. He didn't practice Thursday and was limited on Friday.

There depth could be limited at guard and it was thought backup guard Ryan Bates might be able to come off injured reserve as his window has opened to being reinstated.

"We'll see where Ryan is," Eberflus said. "Ryan's first day back in there moving around was today, so we'll see where that goes."

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