Tyrique Stevenson apologizes to the Bears for their Hail Mary mistake

Chicago Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson apologized to his teammates Monday morning for his role in scoring a Hail Mary touchdown that led to the Washington Commanders' 18-15 victory on Sunday.

Stevenson scolded the fans as the final play began at the Commanders' 48-yard line. The cornerback had his back turned to the game for more than four seconds as he yelled at fans in the stands before sprinting to where Bears and Commanders players had gathered at the front of the end zone.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus confirmed that Stevenson was supposed to box out Commanders wide receiver Noah Brown, who was left unguarded behind seven players. Safety Kevin Byard III should then throw the ball to the ground.

Instead, the cornerback directed the pass to the front of the scrum, which fell into Brown's hands, deciding the game.

“Honestly, I don't think I should share the intimate side of myself that I shared with the boys because I know I let them down and these boys have higher standards for me, just like everyone else in this building,” Stevenson said. “But the short message is that I apologize to the boys for letting them down. I allowed the moment to become too big and something like this can never and will never happen again.”

The CBS broadcast did not show Stevenson interacting with fans – he said he was “cheering” them, not mocking them – before arriving late to the piece. Videos captured by fans and posted on social media showing the events unfolding toward the end of the fourth quarter were met with strong criticism directed at the cornerback, who tweeted an apology shortly after the game.

“Honestly, I can’t worry about it,” Stevenson said. “My focus is on this building and how the people in this building feel. I understand there's anger there. Be honest, I'm going to be worried about the opinion of the building and whether these people have my back and that's the way I move forward.”

Stevenson also incurred a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct violation early in the fourth quarter for fighting with Commanders players.

“I would say the only thing I regret from yesterday is letting this team down by working so hard, coming back and putting us in the W column,” Stevenson said. “You know, just for me to be out of place and do something out of character for me and cost us the loss.”

Eberflus said Stevenson showed “responsibility and accountability” in his address to the team, but declined to say whether the cornerback would face additional consequences decided by the team.

“We’ll take a look at that,” said Eberflus. “These things will always be internal in nature as we work with our players moving forward. It's really about development and making everyone better. We’ll get to that answer later in the week.”

Tight end Cole Kmet, one of eight Bears captains, said the players appreciated that Stevenson chose to step up to the team's helm on his own initiative and noted the cornerback's lessons learned along the way of the game.

“The unfortunate thing (and I would say the beautiful thing) about this game is that you disrespect it in a certain way and it comes back to haunt you one way or another,” Kmet said. “So I think it's for “It's a learning experience for everyone. We all play with a lot of passion. Tyrique plays with a lot of passion and we all love him for that. But there's definitely a level of respect for the game and the knowledge that you have.” I have to finish it before those double zeros are on the clock.”

Although the way Chicago defended Washington's Hail Mary ultimately decided the game, the play beforehand put Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels – who was dealing with a rib injury – in position to complete the pass, which was 52.9 air yards covered.

Immediately after the game, Eberflus said that the play, in which Daniels connected with Terry McLaurin for a 13-yard reception on a quick out route, “really doesn't matter.”

“You're defending a touchdown there and they throw a ball 13 yards or 10 yards, whatever it is, it really doesn't matter,” Eberflus said Sunday night. “It will always come down to the last play, and it came down to the fact that the last play only lasted two seconds, and we have to make that happen.”

The Bears coach reiterated his decision on Monday.

“In this particular situation, you always know they're going to make it – with six seconds left at the 35, they're either going to go to the end zone or just try to get more yards and do that,” Eberflus said. “So if you want to play defense on the sideline, they'll switch to the Hail Mary there and just push everyone off the sideline. Then you have to pick them up from the sidelines and do the same job. “You will do it at Ave Maria. For me, we wanted to bring them up so we didn't give them something that was too far down, which was the case with the 48, and then we prepared for Hail Mary at the end.”

Not everyone felt the same way about the way Chicago defended the second-to-last play. Byard, an 11-year veteran, said he had a conversation with Eberflus about the team's strategy.

“He has his feelings about it,” Byard said. “I think there are a lot of different ways to defend these plays. I personally think that in this scenario there might have been some pressing on the corners because they only took two outcuts and the play was simply called to come.” A few more yards to throw the play down, then maybe they would switch to vertical and then actually run the Hail Mary, but even if they do that, our cornerbacks run with these guys – I'm not saying he lacks arm strength – but you think the ball goes maybe 10 yards shorter, and it might be a little different – ​​we don't know, that's always the case Looking back, it could have been. But in the end it happened the way it did. But he made the call.