Jaquan Brisker's injury will be felt for the Chicago Bears in Week 6

Just when the Chicago Bears’ defense looked like it had reached its apex.

It's not the stuff of legend, not 1985's now mythical 46-defense status, but the Bears have held their last 11 opponents under 21 points. 

At the back of that defense was Jaquan Brisker, who is in concussion protocol and will miss this week’s game in London versus the Jacksonville Jaguars. Versatile enough to play as a two-deep safety, to play quarters, the blitz, and most impressively, to play in the box against the run. 

Opponents can’t throw effectively against him. He’ll put a serious lick on a ball carrier and he blitzes off the edge with the suddenness of a thunderstorm in summer.  

This is a dynamic unit, clicking on all cylinders, that has a week to acclimate to London, take on the struggling Jaguars and be poised to enter its bye week on a high note.

Who will step in for Jaquan Brisker?

It’s not the first time Elijah Hicks will see game action. 

The third-year pro was a 7th-round pick of the Bears in 2022 out of Cal. In eight career starts, he has 39 tackles. Brisker’s absence and Hicks’ elevation to the defensive first unit will leave a hole on special teams, too. 

That’s where Hicks has shined in his short career. 

If Hicks were to struggle at safety, there’s former Texans and Packers’ safety, Simone Biles’ husband and the scorer of the Bears’ first touchdown this season, Jonathan Owens. In 2022, Owens had 125 tackles and a sack in Houston. He had 84 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery in Green Bay last year. 

Because of their depth and the high level the rest of the defense is playing, the Bears seem equipped to, temporarily at least, manage Brisker being out. 

The most exciting thing about watching Brisker is his ability to play with reckless abandon. 

He’s tougher than the Manager’s Special two-day-old steak at Jewel. But, other talented, physical safeties have a similar shelf life. They burn bright for a short period of time, they light up the night sky like Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS will this weekend, and then their bodies yield to the grind, the rigors of the position. 

They give us so much in a short period of time. Asking them to change is probably impossible. They’re probably more prone to injury if they didn’t play like their hair was on fire, like every game was their last. 

On November 20, 2022, Brisker was diagnosed with a grade one concussion. Almost 11 months to the day, October 22, 2023, he was diagnosed with another grade one concussion and missed two games. Slightly more than a year later, he self-reported symptoms and will miss this week’s game. 

With a bye in week 7, Brisker has an extra week to recover. 

But, with his third concussion in three years, it’s hard to not think of other great safeties that had to leave the game too soon. Former Indianapolis Colts' safety Bob Sanders was prolific when it came to laying the wood on a ball carrier. The Bears’ defenses were never the same when former safety Mike Brown would go down with an injury. 

It would be great to see Brisker back, healthy, and never concussed again. There’s an adage a team should draft a quarterback every year. Given the importance of a player like Brisker, the same argument can be made for safety.