Tyrique Stevenson saw the football — and he wanted it.
He chased Dallas Cowboys running back Javonte Williams down the left sideline Sunday at Soldier Field.
“I just realized he didn’t want it,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson, coming up from behind Williams, threw a left hook at the football. In one fell swoop, Stevenson punched the ball out of Williams’ arms, yanked it from his grasp with two hands and landed both feet on the ground before his momentum carried him out of bounds.
It happened too fast to comprehend at live speed. A replay review confirmed Stevenson recovered the fumble inbounds. The “Peanut Punch” is practiced across the NFL by defenders nowadays, but rarely is one executed with such swift perfection.
It was the perfect start in Week 3 for a Chicago Bears defense that was reeling after giving up 52 points to the Detroit Lions seven days earlier. Stevenson’s punch was the first of four takeaways for the Bears defense in Sunday’s win.
For Stevenson, it was his first turnover of the season and it set the tone for a big bounce-back game from the defense. Stevenson also had two passes defended and three tackles. According to NFL Pro, Stevenson was the nearest defender on 10 passes last week, and only three of them were completed. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott had a 42.1 passer rating when Stevenson was the nearest defender.
The Bears were playing their first game after placing Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson on injured reserve with a groin injury. Johnson is expected to be out for an extended period, although it remains possible he could return at some point this season.
Johnson’s absence is going to test the Bears secondary in the coming weeks, and it’s going to test the resolve of the team’s top remaining cornerback. With Johnson out, the 25-year-old Stevenson becomes the No. 1 corner on the depth chart.
Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson strips the ball from Cowboys running back Javonte Williams on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
This could be a crucial stretch for Stevenson, who is best known as the player who was gesturing at the crowd and not paying attention when Jayden Daniels’ Hail Mary began last year against the Washington Commanders. That play, of course, marked the beginning of the end for the 2024 Bears, who went on to lose 10 straight games. Stevenson apologized after the game and spent days — if not weeks — answering questions about that one play.
That was certainly the biggest test of Stevenson’s young career, more for the circumstances of a crucial blunder than for his abilities as a defender. This upcoming stretch, though, could be an even more pivotal test for the 2023 second-round draft pick and his long-term future with the team.
All eyes will be on Stevenson for however long Johnson is sidelined. He’s in the third year of his four-year rookie contract. He’ll be eligible to begin discussing an extension at the end of this season. General manager Ryan Poles and coach Ben Johnson need to begin thinking about whether Stevenson is a part of their long-term plans.
This stretch could go a long way toward determining their feelings on the matter.
Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson chases Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown in the first quarter Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, at Ford Field in Detroit. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
For Stevenson, nothing about his mentality changes with Jaylon Johnson sidelined.
“In my head, I’m the No. 1 guy,” Stevenson told the Tribune. “At the end of the day, I’m on my side. Jaylon’s a big part of this defense and he holds his own, but at the same time, end of the day, I’m a whole ’nother corner on the other side. So in my head I’m the CB1 on that side.”
Al Harris certainly isn’t panicking.
“I’ve watched this movie before,” said Harris, who holds the dual titles of Bears defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator.
Harris was the defensive backs coach for the Cowboys in 2023 when two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs tore his ACL two games into the season.
“When Diggs went down, me and Bland came in,” Harris said.
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Bland would be Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland, who emerged that year and led the NFL with nine interceptions. Eight of those picks came after Diggs went down. Bland scored five touchdowns on interception returns. It was the most non-offensive touchdowns for a player since Devin Hester scored six in 2007.
The Cowboys won 12 games and their defense finished fifth in the NFL against the pass. Bland, a former fifth-round draft pick, was rewarded with a four-year, $92 million extension last month.
Harris brought up 2023 not to compare Stevenson to Bland, but to point out that he has seen a secondary overcome a big-time loss before. Now, in his first year with the Bears, Harris is the coach tasked with figuring out how to adjust without Johnson.
“You just keep with a steady message, a steady message to everybody,” Harris said. “As a staff, we have confidence in every guy in the room. If this guy goes down, hey, you’ve got to step up. You just keep that message consistent.”
The Bears have also been without nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon, who has yet to play this season because of a hamstring injury. Gordon is questionable for this week’s matchup in Las Vegas.
Those are two major absences, putting added pressure on the entire group. Stevenson has taken on the lead role as an outside corner, while Nahshon Wright has seen action on the opposite side. Nick McCloud has stepped into the nickel spot in place of Gordon.
Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson tumbles after covering Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown in the second quarter Sept. 14, 2025, in Detroit. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
The Bears struggled in a Week 2 loss to the Lions in which quarterback Jared Goff gashed the defense for five touchdown passes. Jaylon Johnson started that game but exited after reinjuring his groin.
Harris was proud of the way his group rebounded in Week 3 to slow down Prescott and the Cowboys.
Ben Johnson challenged his team to practice harder ahead of the Cowboys game, saying the team’s practice habits had “yet to reflect a championship-caliber team.”
Stevenson is one of the players who took that to heart. In a normal week with a Sunday kickoff, NFL teams go back to work on Wednesdays. That’s the first time the team is back on the practice field and typically when coaches begin installing plays they want to use against the next opponent.
“I thought the practice on Wednesday (before the Cowboys game) was way different than it has been,” Harris said of Stevenson. “I did notice that.”
Harris played 14 years in the league, including seven seasons with the Green Bay Packers. A two-time Pro Bowl cornerback, he knows what it takes to get ready for game day.
He said the thing that stood out about Stevenson’s practices last week was the attention to detail.
“I’m huge on how you practice,” Harris said. “Because you play exactly how you practice. There’s only been — in my 28 years playing and coaching — I’ve only seen one guy that was able to not practice or kind of look through it mentally and go out and do it on Sunday. So I think the way that you prepare and the way that you practice, the tempo that you practice at, how you compete in practice, it translates over to the game.”
That one exception to the rule would be nine-time Pro Bowl corner Charles Woodson, who played alongside Harris in Green Bay.
In regard to Stevenson, Harris believes he’s approaching practice the right way, and those practice habits are manifesting themselves on the field. Last week’s takeaway was a great example.
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“His instincts just kicked in,” Harris said. “Hey, look, go and get it.”
Those instincts will be tested in the coming weeks. The entire Bears secondary will be.
Raiders quarterback Geno Smith threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns last week against the Commanders. Daniels and the Commanders will be next for the Bears after the bye week — at the site of the Hail Mary fiasco. The high-powered Baltimore Ravens are on the horizon. So are the Cincinnati Bengals, who still have two of the league’s best wide receivers, even if Joe Burrow is out.
There are no easy weeks in the NFL.
That’s especially true for cornerbacks, a position that fans notice the screw-ups more than they notice a job well done. Stevenson knows that intimately well.
“Can’t show no fear,” Stevenson said. “Can’t have no anxiety. Just go out there and play and be you. That really what it is.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/27/chicago-bears-tyrique-stevenson-jaylon-johnson/
