The Chicago Bears defense has been every bit the snarling unit this season that fans have come to expect over decades of a hard-nosed brand of football, but it could well be without one of its most important contributors this weekend in London.
Starting safety Jaquan Brisker may miss the team’s Week 6 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars due to a concussion, which didn’t come to light until a day after the Bears’ win over the Carolina Panthers at Soldier Field.
“#Bears safety Jaquan Brisker reported concussion symptoms this afternoon, was diagnosed with one this evening and isn’t on the team flight to London,” Patrick Finley of the Sun Times reported via X on Monday, October 7.
Brisker could recover soon enough to fly to England on his own, Finley added. However, concussion symptoms vary from person to person and are inherently unpredictable.
Pro Football Focus (PFF) ranks Brisker as the 35th-best safety out of 80 players who have seen enough snaps to qualify at the position through five games this NFL season.
Brisker has tallied 40 tackles, including 3 tackles for loss, 2 pass breakups, 1 INT, 1 forced fumble and 1 sack this season. He has afforded opposing QBs a collective rating of just 65.5 through five games, per PFF.
Bears Defense Has Been Top-10 Caliber Through 5 Weeks
GettySafety Jaquan Brisker of the Chicago Bears.
Chicago will look to make it three wins in a row in London after besting the Panthers last weekend and the Rams the week before. Both victories came at Soldier Field.
The defense has been stout not just during the mini-winning streak, but throughout the entire season.
“The Bears had the 12th-best defense by DVOA heading into Week 5, but a dominant performance against the Panthers should help them climb up the rankings,” Tyler Brooke of 33rd Team wrote Monday. “With so much talent on a defense that just keeps getting better, the Bears have the talent to play complementary football and set up their rookie quarterback for success.”
Brisker’s absence — should he miss this week’s game against the Jaguars — will be a blow to the Bears unit, though probably not a death blow. Jonathan Owens and Elijah Hicks serve as Chicago’s backups at the position and one will step in for Brisker should he prove unable to go.
Bears Defense Has Aided Development of QB Caleb Williams
GettyQuarterback Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears.
Chicago’s defense has also been beneficial to the development of quarterback Caleb Williams over his first month as a professional.
“Caleb Williams looked like the first pick in the NFL draft on Sunday. Tucked into that fact is this— the Chicago Bears had a good enough team over the first month of the season to allow him the time to get there,” Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated wrote on Monday. “In Week 1, it was a pick-six and a score on a blocked punt doing the job for Chicago. In dropping their next two games, the coaching staff never panicked and asked too much of its quarterback. Instead, Williams got to play, make his mistakes, and learn.”
The Bears will take on a 1-4 Jaguars team six days from now that started the year 0-4 and was the last team to claim a victory this season.
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Bears Star DB Has Concussion, Won’t Travel to London With Team: Report