How will the Bears fill the void left by Jaquan Brisker in their secondary?
Just when the Chicago Bears’ defense seemed to hit its stride.
While it’s not quite at the legendary level of the 1985 Bears and their iconic 46-defense, the current squad has kept its last 11 opponents under 21 points. Anchoring that defense was Jaquan Brisker, now sidelined in concussion protocol and set to miss this week’s game in London against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Brisker’s versatility has been key—whether playing as a two-deep safety, covering quarters, blitzing, or stepping into the box to stop the run.
Opponents struggle to throw his way. He delivers punishing hits to ball carriers and blitzes off the edge with the sudden force of a summer thunderstorm.
The third-year pro, a 7th-round pick by the Bears in 2022 out of Cal, has proven to be a reliable presence. In eight career starts, Jaquan Brisker has recorded 39 tackles. His absence, along with Elijah Hicks’ promotion to the starting defense, will also leave a noticeable gap on special teams—where Hicks has excelled in his young career.
If Hicks struggles to adjust to the starting safety role, the Bears have a seasoned backup in Jonathan Owens—former Texans and Packers safety, and husband of Simone Biles. Owens, who scored the Bears’ first touchdown this season, brings valuable experience. In 2022, he racked up 125 tackles and a sack with Houston, and followed that up with 84 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery last year in Green Bay.
Given their depth and the high level of play from the rest of the defense, the Bears appear well-positioned to handle Jaquan Brisker’s absence, at least for now.
One of the most thrilling aspects of Brisker’s game is his fearless, hard-hitting style. He’s as tough as a two-day-old steak from Jewel, but that kind of relentless physicality often comes with a limited shelf life for safeties. Players like Brisker burn bright, lighting up the field like Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS streaking across the night sky this weekend, but the grind of the position eventually takes its toll. They give everything they have in a short time, and changing their aggressive style isn’t realistic. In fact, if they played with less intensity, they’d likely be even more prone to injury.
Brisker’s history with concussions is concerning. On November 20, 2022, he suffered a grade one concussion. Almost exactly 11 months later, on October 22, 2023, he was diagnosed with another, forcing him to miss two games. Now, just over a year later, after self-reporting symptoms, Brisker will sit out again.
With a bye in Week 7, Brisker will have an extra week to recover, giving the Bears hope that he can return at full strength.
With his third concussion in as many years, it’s hard not to be reminded of other great safeties who were forced to leave the game too soon. Former Indianapolis Colts safety Bob Sanders was a master at delivering crushing hits, yet his career was cut short by injuries. Similarly, the Bears’ defenses were never quite the same when former safety Mike Brown would go down.
Seeing Brisker return healthy and free from concussions would be a dream, but the reality of his situation is sobering. There’s an old saying that a team should draft a quarterback every year, given their importance. Considering the critical role players like Brisker play in the defense, the same argument could easily be made for drafting safeties. The position’s physical demands often lead to careers that, like Brisker’s, may need constant attention and fresh reinforcements
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