The Chicago Bears improved nearly every position group on the roster this offseason, but there was one unit where zero upgrades were required.
Safety Eddie Jackson is a former All-Pro and two-time Pro Bowler who has started all 88 games he’s played across six years in Chicago. His partner Jaquan Brisker burst onto the scene as a rookie in 2022 and established himself almost immediately as one of the team’s top-tier defenders.
Matt Verderame of Sports Illustrated attended Bears training camp on Friday, August 4, and came away confident in the notion that Chicago will field one of the NFL’s best safety duos this season.
“Brisker flying around — he was a menace throughout practice, coming up in run support while also taking away any route in his general vicinity,” Verderame wrote. “It’s not surprising to see Brisker playing well after an encouraging rookie season. He’ll help form one of the league’s best safety tandems alongside Jackson.”
Bears’ Jaquan Brisker Poised for Breakout Year, Elevation to Elite NFL Safety Status
GettySafety Jaquan Brisker of the Chicago Bears celebrates a third-down stop during an NFL game against the Houston Texans in September 2022.
Pro Football Focus (PFF) ranked Jackson the 13th-best safety in football last season out of 88 players who saw enough snaps to qualify at the position, while Brisker came in at 42nd based on PFF’s advanced analytics formula. The one area in which Brisker was clearly better than Jackson in 2022 was getting after opposing quarterbacks — a skill he showcased in practice on Friday.
“One play stood out,” Verderame wrote. “On the first play of team periods, Brisker came on a well-designed blitz off the left side, blew past an occupied second-year left tackle in Braxton Jones and had an easy shot on quarterback Justin Fields before pulling up to avoid contact.”
Brisker appeared in and started 15 games for the Bears during his rookie campaign. He tallied 104 tackles, including five tackles for loss, five quarterback pressures, four QB hits, four sacks, two pass breakups, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery, per Pro Football Reference.
Fans voted Brisker the team’s Rookie of the Year in 2022, per ChicagoBears.com, while PFF named Brisker to its All-Rookie Team last season.
Bears Safety Eddie Jackson Calls Out Former Packers QB Aaron Rodgers
GettySafety Eddie Jackson #4 celebrates a defensive play with linebacker Nicholas Morrow #53 and safety Jaquan Brisker #9 of the Chicago Bears.
Jackson was hyped about Chicago’s secondary, and its defense as a whole, after practice on Friday.
In fact, he was so confident, Jackson said he wished that quarterback Aaron Rodgers was still captaining the Green Bay Packers this year just so he would have to face the Bears’ new and improved defense.
“I really do wish he was back on the Packers,” Jackson told reporters. “We’re going to take it as it comes, but I really do wish. Because this year? It’s going to be scary, man.”
“It’s fired up out there right now,” Jackson continued. “It’s intense. Guys are locked in. It’s a whole different mindset compared to last year. You guys see it. Y’all out there watching practice. We’re on fire. We’re really out there, flying around. No one is complaining. Everyone is locked in, buying into it.”
Fans will get their first chance to see the Bears defense in action when Chicago opens its preseason schedule against the Tennessee Titans at Soldier Field on Saturday, August 12. The team has yet to announce whether either Jackson or Brisker will play in that contest.
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Bears Big-Play Defensive Duo Projected Among NFL’s Best Units