Chicago Bears CB Kyler Gordon is embracing his ‘spidey senses’

LAKE FOREST – Second-year Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon is fully embracing his “Spider-Man” nickname.

The moniker was originally given to him by head coach Matt Eberflus sometime during the 2022 season, and it has stuck.

“He’s so agile. He is instinctive. He’s got spidey senses,” defensive coordinator Alan Williams said this week. “When he makes a play and you go, ‘Wow, how did he make that?’ Ding, ding, ding. The spidey senses are going off.”

“He’s so agile. He is instinctive. He’s got spidey senses.”

—  Alan Williams, Bears defensive coordinator

Shortly after practice wrapped up Saturday at Halas Hall in Lake Forest, Gordon showed up at his media session wearing a Spider-Man mask. The nicknames fits because Gordon is a huge Spider-Man fan. He said he likes all the movies, but the original three starring Tobey Maguire are his favorites.

“I just think as a kid growing up, that’s who I watched all the time,” Gordon said. “I got to see the whole evolution of him. I like the Green Goblin [from the original 2002 film] when you caught him too. Brings me back to my childhood.”

The nickname stems from Gordon’s quick-twitch ability on the football field. He’s quick, athletic and can jump out there. In some ways, his lanky frame is reminiscent of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

This offseason, Gordon has focused his game solely on the nickel corner position. Last season, he switched off as a boundary corner and a nickel corner depending on the situation. This year, it’s all about the slot, guarding the receivers closest to the offensive line.

Gordon was quick to point out that he still feels like he has the ability to play both spots, but he’s willing to do whatever the coaching staff thinks is best for the team.

“Me as a nickel, I’m already knowing what everybody does on the defense,” Gordon said. “I’ve got to know the ins and outs of all the positions. So that wouldn’t really be trouble for me to go and do that.”

Williams is excited for Gordon’s second season in the NFL. The defensive coordinator said that oftentimes rookie defenders come in and learn the scheme and they are so focused on memorizing their assignments that they don’t play with enough instinct or fluidity.

He’s seeing more of that instinctual play out of Gordon now. He’s seeing those spidey senses in action.

“I do believe that just with everything, less is more,” Williams said. “So when you reduce the amount of things that he has to do in terms of technique assignments, they can’t help but get better. He works at it, unbelievably. He is smart. He is instinctive.”

The Bears have been working in Tyrique Stevenson and Terell Smith, two rookies, at the boundary corner spot opposite veteran Jaylon Johnson. Stevenson was a second-round draft pick (56th overall) and Smith was a fifth-round pick (165th overall).

During OTAs in the spring, Stevenson saw a lot of time with the first-team defense. But in the early days of camp, Smith has been sharing time with him. Williams said this week not to read into who is playing with which units quite yet, but it’s impossible to ignore the fifth-round pick seeing time with the ones.

“He’s been really solid,” Eberflus said of Smith. “He’s learning the position. He’s got a lot of good speed. He’s got a lot of good, long speed to him. He’s got good size. He’s smart. He knows what to do and how to do it. We’re going to create competition at those spots and that’s certainly one of them that we are doing that.”

With the rookies adding to the mix at cornerback, the Bears should feel excited about what they’ve got brewing in the secondary.

It doesn’t hurt to have a superhero, either.