If the Chicago Bears wanted to take steps this year, they not only needed to see their draft and free agency pan out, but they needed to see some improvement from players on the roster. So far, that has not happened enough. Which players did we want to see take a step, but so far, we are not seeing anything?
3. Is Jaquan Brisker less impactful for the Chicago Bears?
After the rookie season was a success, there was a thought that Jaquan Brisker was going to take a step toward being one of the better safeties in the NFL. According to PFF, his overall grade is down from 67 to 49.7, and his coverage grade is down from 65 to 43.1. If you watch the tape, you can see it as well.
It does not help that he left at some point in the first four weeks with an injury. Now, it looks like he is playing through a hamstring that stuck with him in week four. Since then, we have seen him at his worst. He gave up a touchdown to Courtland Sutton in week four and then a long pass down the sideline in week five. In week six, it was a couple of key catches for T.J. Hockenson.
His run defense and tackling have been fine. His pass rush is not quite the same in terms of sacks, but he is getting pressure when needed. So, it looks like a lot of this is coming down to trying to play through injury and getting exposed on the back end in coverage because of it.
Will Brisker be able to shake this off and get healthy, or will this be an issue that plauges him all year?