On this episode of Football Night in Chicago, Laurence Holmes is joined by NBC Sports Chicago Bears Insider Josh Schrock to discuss Caleb Williams’ preseason performance. Schrock talks about how the Bears’ defense is helping Williams develop
LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Tyrique Stevenson's rookie season was filled with the typical trials and tribulations cornerbacks face in Year 1 in the NFL.
It started during daily training camp battles with DJ Moore, and the learning moments increased during a Week 2 scorching at the hands of Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans.
But the Bears cornerback found his feet during the back half of the season and has remained confident he's ready to explode in Year 2.
Stevenson arrived back at Halas Hall to see a new challenge that would test his coverage abilities and show him what he is truly capable of: veteran wide receiver Keenan Allen.
Asked about Allen on Tuesday at Halas Hall, Stevenson dropped his head and started shaking it.
"Keenan is .... ahh," Stevenson said with a sigh and a smile. "With Keenan, you just have to watch. For everything. It's the quick stops, the in and out of his breaks to create the small separation he gets on the route."
Stevenson has spent all of training camp sharpening his skills against Allen, DJ Moore, and rookie wide receiver Rome Odunze.
All three are talented in their own right and give the Bears one of the best trio of wide receivers in the NFL.
But it's Allen who has flustered and frustrated Stevenson over the past month. While Stevenson feels he has a good feel for what Moore likes to do and can handle Odunze, Allen is a different beast.
The veteran wiles of one of the NFL's best route-runners are hard to decode.
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"I feel like if you play him too close, he's good enough to make that incredible catch," Stevenson said of Allen. "So you have to give him space to see which way he's going. If you sell on a route too hard, he can take it back the other way. And if you play him low, he's definitely taking it over the top. So it's just figuring out how to take him out of his groove and all that. I feel like his ability to create separation when he needs to is second to none."
Stevenson won't say that Allen has had his way with him this camp, but he admits this is the first time a receiver has made him search for answers.
"Never. Nah," Stevenson said. "It's just ... even with DJ last year, it was hard. But I felt like I was coming along. With Keenan, now it's like figuring out a whole new plan to stop somebody new. I see why he's given so many headaches to DBs in the past."
With Stevenson, All-Pro cornerback Jaylon Johnson, third-year nickel corner Kyler Gordon, and safeties Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker, the Bears are set up to have potentially the best secondary in the NFL this season.
Daily battles with Allen, Moore, and Odunze have only increased the confidence of a brash, talented secondary that believes it can lock up anyone.
While Stevenson continues to search for ways to solve Allen on the back fields at Halas Hall, he already has logged the most important lesson from his daily clashes with the veteran receiver.
"I’m 'Him,' pretty much," Stevenson said when asked what he has learned about himself while battling Allen and Moore. "I can cover pretty much any receiver in the league. All I’ve got to do is stay working hard, stay consistent and just lock in on myself."
The Bears believe that, too, and they are counting on a Year 2 leap from Stevenson that will help take their defense from ascending to elite.
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