Bears News: Tyrique Stevenson embracing man-to-man mentality under Dennis Allen

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 17 hours ago

CHICAGO - Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen is known for his strong passing defenses, which rely heavily on smart cornerbacks who do their job and cover their wide receiver.

Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson could learn from a disciplined coach like Coach Allen and is already taking to his defensive scheme.

“I love it. In most of the defensive for the corner, (it) is man on man. So, it’s mano y mano. I’m going to show you. I’ve been working and I’m better than you and feel like that can take a lot of the guessing out of the game for the corners,” Stevenson said. You’re a cover corner and you got to cover the guys in this league and his defense allows you to go out there and build your confidence up week after week, playing man after man on any receiver. So, just building that confidence up allows you to go make the plays or take them certain risks that you wouldn’t take if you (were) never put in that position before.”

One person who will be instrumental in ensuring Stevenson and the rest of the cornerbacks perform in Allen’s scheme is defensive backs coach Al Harris, who spent 15 years in the NFL, including seven years with the Green Bay Packers and five years with the Philadelphia Eagles.

With his extensive playing experience, as well as 13 years of coaching experience, Coach Harris has a wealth of knowledge to offer.

“Some of his little pointers with how you line up, how to look at the stance and how to look at the splits and just pretty much understanding the system more than the player and I feel like he’s teaching all of that and it’s kind of rubbing off. Understanding that certain players run certain routes and certain OCs run certain concepts. So, instead of playing the man, you play the concept,” Stevenson said. “It’s perfect honestly and just the coach Al is, I know he’s going to be on me every day, all day and I appreciate that (because) if I allow him to teach me and everything, he can take me to where I want to go.”

Chicago’s defense certainly could have been better last season. They were one of the worst rushing defenses in the NFL. Thus, while they allowed the fewest amount of passing touchdowns last season, that is most likely because teams had so much success on the ground. Furthermore, they were second to last in net yards gained per pass attempt as teams were able to gain a lot of yards per pass attempt when they did decide to pass.

Given those numbers, it is quite bold for the defense to aim to be the best in the league next year, although that is precisely what they aspire to do.

“The defense (wants) to be the best defense this year,” Stevenson said. “Some of the guys come out with the same mentality. We (added) some pieces in, (added) some dogs and now, it’s time to hunt now.”

Interior defensive lineman Grady Jarrett was perhaps the biggest addition Chicago had in the offseason. Jarrett is a seasoned veteran who has gone to the Pro Bowl twice and was a second-team All-Pro in 2019. Despite playing on the interior, he always finds a way to get into the backfield as he has recorded at least eight quarterback hits every season since 2016.

No one on the Bears recorded more than six sacks last season; his presence should help change that. Furthermore, applying that kind of pressure inside can help players like Stevenson to secure more interceptions, as the Bears were mediocre in terms of interceptions last season. They finished the year with a total of 11 picks. Only two players had multiple interceptions, and Stevenson was one of them.