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Bears cornerback Tyrique Stevenson.
The Chicago Bears won’t have starting nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon available for a second straight game when they host the Cleveland Browns on December 14, but they will have reinforcements on the way after catching a lucky break.
The Bears officially ruled out Gordon with a groin injury for Week 15’s home matchup with the Browns when they released their final injury report on December 12, but they also cleared cornerback Tyrique Stevenson to return without an injury designation.
Stevenson missed the past two games for the Bears with a hip injury that he sustained in Week 11’s win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he returned to practice as a limited participant this week before upgrading to full participation for the final walkthrough.
Stevenson’s return comes at a fortuitous time for the Bears with Gordon set to miss his second straight game and 11th of the season. Gordon injured his groin during pregame warmups before Week 14’s game against the Packers, forcing the team to rule him out, but he continued to miss all three practices this week ahead of the Browns matchup.
The Bears (9-4) will face the Browns (3-10) at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, December 14.
Injuries Have Derailed Kyler Gordon’s 2025 Season
Less than two weeks before the 2025 NFL draft, the Bears made the bold decision to sign Gordon to a three-year, $40 million contract extension that made him the league’s highest-paid slot cornerback and ensured he would not reach free agency in 2026.
It was a hard-earned reward for the former second-round pick, who had been one of the only bright spots for the Bears’ defense during Matt Eberflus’ time as their head coach.
Unfortunately, 2025 has been a rough season for Gordon with his injuries.
Gordon missed the first four games of the season with a hamstring injury that kept him out for a good portion of the summer’s training camp. While he returned after the bye week and played the next two games, he started experiencing calf issues during practice in Week 8 and landed on injured reserve on October 25 — before that week’s game.
The Bears activated Gordon before Week 13’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Black Friday and played him roughly two-thirds of their defensive snaps in the victory, but those 36 defensive snaps were all he managed to play before his latest groin injury.
Now, it is unclear whether Gordon will return for the rest of the 2025 season.
“To be determined,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson said during December 10’s press conference when asked if Gordon would return in 2025. “I haven’t heard over the last couple days, just the extent of it, but coming out of that one, it didn’t look very good.”
How Will Tyrique Stevenson Factor Into Bears’ Plans?
The Bears should get a boost from Stevenson’s return this weekend against the Browns, but how exactly they plan to use him with the rest of their defensive backs is unclear.
Stevenson has 42 career starts for the Bears since coming into the league in 2023 and made 10 starts earlier this season when he was healthy, but the Bears did not have two-time Pro Bowler Jaylon Johnson available for most of the time. Now that Johnson is healthy again, Chicago has a choice to make about the other outside cornerback spot.
While Stevenson seemed penciled into the No. 2 cornerback role entering the season, Nahshon Wright has continued to make plays for the Bears in the role opposite him. He sits tied for second in the league with five interceptions heading into Week 15 and has eight total takeaways in 2025, including his forced fumble on Philly’s “Tush Push.”
That’s far too valuable for the Bears to cast aside, even with Stevenson healthy.
Most likely, the Bears will seek to find some middle ground with Stevenson and Wright against the Browns in the form of a rotation. Wright has done nothing to lose his job as the starter opposite Johnson, but more frequent rotation with Stevenson can help keep the unit fresh, especially if the Bears feel they can still trust Stevenson to make plays.
The Bears might also experiment with either Stevenson or Wright in the slot; however, veteran safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson has performed well there in Gordon’s absence.
Jordan J. Wilson is a sports reporter who covers the NFL and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers. He has previously covered all levels of sports — high school, college and pro — for a variety of publications including The Indianapolis Star, The News-Gazette, Springfield State-Journal Register and Peoria Journal Star. More about Jordan J. Wilson
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