Tyrique Stevenson promises he won't fail the Chicago Bears again

“It still hurts, because at the end of the day I’m a football player and the last thing I wanna do is have a play that’s not so good and my name be memorable,” he said. “On top of all the good things I did, it could overshadow that.

“Just use it as motivation to come out and stay focused on all tasks and definitely, definitely learn to wait until the clock hits double-zeroes. Just use that as a learning curve to mature and be the cornerback that this team needs.”

Washington fans and fans all around the NFL were merciless with social media taunts and memes after the play, one chosen as the NFL’s top moment last year. He anticipates Monday night’s return to the scene of the crime to no less of a challenge as the fans pelt him with insults.

“Most definitely,” he said. “Going back to a hostile environment, they’re going to do their best job to rattle me as much as they can. But like I was saying earlier, the best thing I can do is come out here and show these 10 (teammates) I’m locked in and ready to go.”

While he felt the other Bears had his back afterward, it might not have been 100%.

“They gave me support,” he said.  “Being honest, I got a couple side-eyes. But that comes with, like I was saying on (Kevin Byard’s) podcast, this is what we do for a living. This is who we are in some cases. And the best thing we can do is go out there and make great plays. And I put a bad play on film.

“The best thing they could do was come around and put their arm around me and be like, ‘we got you.’ That’s what they showed me all last year.”

Support or no support, there’s no doubt the play triggered their 10-game losing streak and coach Matt Eberflus’ eventual firing.

On the podcast with Byard, Stevenson had characterized it as beneficial to his career in the long run because of the lesson learned about being careless.

“Yeah—like I told (Byard) this, too—I definitely appreciate that, because I would have never changed,” he said.  “I had success with my mindset and what I was doing at that time. And I felt like with that situation it was just preparing me to grow and to mature and to be able to set whatever situation that comes with this game and be able to stand (with) 10 and stand and look these men in the face when things don't go my way.”

Coming off the bye, Stevenson is on a little bit of a roll. His two fumble recoveries, five pass deflections and forced fumble have made up for a slow start. He can’t wait to get to this game.

“I actually wanted to play last week,” he said.

It’s not going to be easy, going against Daniels and Washington’s potent offense.

“Because, at the end of the day, he can scramble and throw, he can scramble and run,” Stevenson said. “So the best thing that we got to do is plaster our guys. And when we turn around, make sure that we get him on the ground.”

And then make sure they play every play out until the clock shows zero.

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