We have a few more training camp battles to discuss before the Bears all report to training camp later this month. We move back to the defensive side of the ball one more time, and this time we focus on the secondary once again.
This is one of the most critical training camp battles of the season. There may be some that are interesting or intriguing, but in most cases, the Bears have two players capable of starting battling it out. In this case? Do the Bears have a legitimate starter to play opposite
Jaylon Johnson? Right now, that’s impossible to answer.
Tyrique Stevenson’s career certainly hasn’t taken the path most Bears fans (and I’m guessing Ryan Poles) expected it to take following a strong rookie campaign. Stevenson tallied 65 tackles, 4 interceptions, and had 16 passes defended as a rookie. His play was inconsistent, but the good far outweighed the bad. He was on his way.
Entering his second year, Stevenson kicked off his campaign with a Pick Six against the Tennessee Titans, a critical play to give the Bears an improbable win. The stock was high for Stevenson. Since that game, Stevenson’s play has declined, his focus has collapsed, and he’s fallen out of favor with coaches.
Stevenson struggled in many games, had the Hail Mary disaster, and Bears fans were hopeful that after a disastrous second year, a new scheme that seemingly fit Stevenson’s play style better with Dennis Allen would revitalize him. It did not.
Stevenson fell out of favor when he saw the bench more than the field towards the end of the season, even though the Bears’ secondary was banged up and missing players.
When all that is considered, it’s no surprise that we are saying that Stevenson is in a training camp battle with a fourth-round pick.
That’s not to disparage Muhammad. The pick was widely praised by draft experts. Muhammad made plenty of spectacular plays at Texas and earned him second team All-SEC in 2025. But that’s a big leap to have a fourth-round rookie earn a starting job out of training camp. It can happen. Tarheeb Still was a fifth-round pick and was starting by September of his rookie season with the LA Chargers.
Now, it’s also possible that Muhammad eventually finds more success inside at Nickel. Based on Kyler Gordon’s injury issues and some of the comments the coaching staff made about him in May, it’s not impossible to think that Muhammad could eventually replace Gordon and not Stevenson.
But as long as he’s healthy, one would expect Gordon to keep his nickel job this year and Muhammad to compete with Stevenson outside.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility that another corner could emerge and take the job over both of these two. Terell Smith seems like a long shot coming off his ACL and entering the final year of his contract. Jaylon Jones is a solid veteran but is more of a career backup.
When you look at the bottom line, the Bears really need Stevenson to step up and play like the player he looked like he was going to be as a rookie. Unless Muhammad shocks everyone and snags the spot, he’s probably going to need some time to develop before he starts. Stevenson has to take this job, and he has to play well. If Stevenson struggles and the Bears end up going to someone like Jaylon Jones, that’s going to be an issue when they play elite quarterbacks. They will be picking on whoever is playing opposite Jaylon Johnson all season long.
I think Stevenson holds off the competition and earns the starting job, but I wonder if he starts all season long. This is a critical position to solidify for the Bears’ success this season. Stevenson’s 2026 is huge, and that cannot be overstated.
