Defining Roles: Washington Explains How Stevenson, Smith Fit into Bears’ Plans

Ever since the Chicago Bears loss to the Washington Commanders, the Bears have been trying something different with the secondary, but not for the reason you think.

In that Week 9 game, second-year cornerback Terell Smith returned from a three week injury and was back on the field for the Bears’ defense.

The following week, Smith was on the starting defense on the opening drive in place of fellow sophomore cornerback Tyrique Stevenson.

That was only a one week change due in part to Stevenson’s performance and actions against the Commanders, but Smith’s snap counts continued to steadily increase since Week 9. And it’s not because the Bears are replacing Stevenson in his role.

On Thursday, Bears’ defensive coordinator Eric Washington set the record straight about what’s really going on between the two young cornerbacks.

“We’ll continue to utilize both players. We feel great about what they can contribute to our defense,” Washington explained. “You saw Terell in the Arizona Cardinals game come within inches of getting a pick and you saw him get a pick last week. Beginning of the season, Tyrique is running down the sideline with the ball in his hands scoring. We like what both players bring to the table.”

Simply put, the Bears like both Stevenson and Smith and what each player brings to the defense on Sundays. But, it’s easy to see why people thought Smith was taking over Stevenson’s role as the No. 2 corner behind Jaylon Johnson.

From Weeks 9-11, Smith has been the Bears’ highest graded cornerback per Pro Football Focus. In that span, he’s allowed three receptions on four targets with 44.8 passer rating allowed. By comparison, Stevenson’s allowed seven receptions on 10 targets with a 117.9 passer rating allowed while playing 16 more coverage snaps.

That’s where takes like this one came from over the past few weeks.

But in the grand scheme of things, both players play a different style of game from the other and it’s not as simple as “oh, he should start over him.” It’s clear the Bears like using both players in various different situations.

For example, in the Bears’ Week 11 game against the Green Bay Packers, Stevenson was on the field for 26 plays. The Packers ran the ball on 15 of those plays with Stevenson in the game, two of which Stevenson was in on the tackle.

“Tyrique’s an explosive tackler. Really good at the point of attack,” Washington said of Stevenson. “If team’s are scheming to force the corner into a position where he’s at the point and has to make a tackle, you really like what he can do.”