There's a phrase Bears defensive backs coach Al Harris uses frequently that has stuck out to cornerback Nahshon Wright in his first season with the Bears.
"When the stars align, if you see it, go get it."
In the third quarter of the Bears' Week 1 Monday night matchup with the Vikings, Wright went and got it — "it" being his first career interception return for a touchdown.
On third-and-8 from the Chicago 32, the Bears dropped into cover zero as defensive coordinator Dennis Allen called a blitz featuring seven Bears defenders rushing Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
Facing the pressure, McCarthy dropped back and quickly let a pass fly toward receiver Justin Jefferson. Wright jumped the route, caught the ball and sped off down the right sideline for a 74-yard touchdown.
"[I was] just reading my keys," Wright said. "We have kind of clues that we clue in on, and I had seen what I'd seen, and I just went and made the play. And that's a credit to our coaches just allowing us to be aggressive, and us just playing aggressive, and going to make plays on the ball."
The fifth-year pro started Monday night in place of Pro Bowler Jaylon Johnson, who missed all of training camp and the preseason and was inactive Monday due to calf and groin injuries. Earning his first start since Jan. 8, 2023 during his second NFL season with the Cowboys, Wright entered the 2025 season opener with one personal goal.
"To go out there and just prove that I belong," Wright said. "I've always felt like I've belonged, and sometimes it just comes down to opportunity. So, when you get them, you've gotta make the most of them."
The play marked a first of Wright's 5-year career and goes down as the first pick-6 of the 2025 NFL season. The 74-yard return for a TD is the longest pick-6 by the Bears since 2017 and is tied for the fourth-longest interception return TD by a Chicago defender since at least 1960.
While Wright's interception was his first in an NFL game since Dec. 29, 2022, his teammates in Chicago have grown accustomed to the 6-foot-4 corner's playmaking abilities.
"He's a lengthy corner, very tall," safety Jaquan Brisker said. "He always gets his hands on the ball. So, during practice, he was always around the ball, always being physical, always playing hard and things like that. That's what I liked about him, because I didn't know him before this."
Wright's big play sent the Soldier Field crowd and the Bears sideline into a warranted frenzy.
"I personally think he made a hell of a play," safety Kevin Byard III said. "Coach sent a great blitz at the time. Obviously, I didn't see it, I was on the other side blitzing, but it seems like he read the route and made a great play on the ball.
"I mean, it was a huge play in the game for us. Unfortunately, we still didn't win the ball game. But it was a great play. I think he played a great game. He was out there cramping, covering Justin Jefferson, who obviously we know is a tough cover, but I think he played a hell a game."
The most notable sideline reaction came from Allen himself. Once Wright secured the INT, Allen threw his arms up in celebration and proceeded to run the length of the field down the Bears sideline.
Allen's visible reaction felt particularly special to Wright.
After spending the 2024 season on the Vikings practice squad — following three years in Dallas, where he was a 2021 draft selection and coached by Harris — Wright was released by Minnesota April 7. One day later, he traveled to Chicago to sign with the Bears and had his first meeting with Allen, which he still remembers.
"He's meant a lot," Wright said of Allen. "I remember when I first met with him, he told me I was gonna have an opportunity to compete, and that's all I could ask for coming in, especially being on practice squad last year and being released. He told me that I would have an opportunity to compete, and he's done nothing but [stay true to] that, and then on top of that, just believing in me as a player and allowing me to do my job."
Wright put together a solid performance during his debut in Allen's defense, totaling four tackles, one tackle-for-loss and one pass defensed, on top of the pick-6. Still, Wright knows he and the Bears defense will need to make necessary improvements heading into next week's game in Detroit.
"I mean, at the end of the day, the individual accolades don't matter once you don't win," Wright said. "You want to come up on top by any means necessary. So, I mean, obviously, it was a great play, but you want to finish, so we've got to go back to the drawing board and learn how to finish."
