Jaquan Brisker Establishes a Presence
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On the final day of practices before training camp in July, all the Bears wore jersey No. 41 in honor of legendary back Brian Piccolo for the 52nd anniversary of his death.
So it made it difficult to tell who was making plays during 11-on-11 non-contact practice, except when rookie safety Jaquan Brisker was involved. The rookie needed no identifying jersey number because he has been around the ball making plays so often since he arrived at Halas Hall.
"That's the standard around here so creating turnovers is what we do," Brisker said. "And that was also in my DNA.
"I feel like I attack the ball. I attack the ball whether that's forcing a fumble or whether that's going for an interception. So I love being around the football and obviously getting it back for the offense."
Brisker may have been the rookie who showed up most in work at Halas Hall over the offseason practices. Velus Jones was apparent on offense but not to the extent Brisker was on defense from the day he arrived at rookie camp and poked the football loose like Charles "Peanut" Tillman used to do.
"He's been really good, really good," coach Matt Eberflus said. "In fact I was just talking to (defensive coordinator) Alan Williams about him on the field and we're just so thrilled with his talent, you know, with his mental makeup and just the person he is and where he is in his development so far up until this point."
Eberflus isn't about to paint the picture of a finished product by any means, but if there is a rookie who appears most likely to begin camp as a starter it is the former Penn State safety chosen No. 48 overall in Round 2.
"When you're dealing with players in their first year and you're dealing with these young guys, man, they learn fast and there's so many things that he needs to see in the deep part of the field, down close," Eberflus said. "There's so many things that he has to experience and go through to get the knowledge and learn and put it in his file, in his rolodex there so he can come back to it, so (he says): 'I've seen that, I've done that before.'
"So we're just trying to put him in as many experiences as we can. Sometimes it's good. He's going to fail some and he's going to succeed a lot. But sometimes that failure teaches you a lot more than all of the successes he's going to have, which he's already had a lot of, too."
Brisker isn't wowed by the speed at which opportunity has presented itself.
"I feel like it's not coming too fast for me," he said. "I feel like I'm taking every day one step at a time, being where my feet is, and you know, just embracing my role and things like that and just trying to get my feet back under me."
It helps having the support of veterans and Bears safety Eddie Jackson had said on Tuesday that he enjoys the fact that Brisker likes playing in the box as a safety.
Brisker playing his favorite way frees Jackson up for what is supposed to be his own strength, that of playing the ball.
"Really, it allows me to focus on just one thing," Brisker said. "Whether that's me playing in the box and covering a tight or coming downhill, anything like that. Or if he (Jackson) does come down, I'm back, I can show I've got good range, too. And obviously, he can play both safeties."
So can Brisker.
"NFL level, I wouldn’t say it's the same but college, I played both safeties and here it's both safeties," Brisker said. "It just all depends on the formation and the coverage.
"Sometimes, I still might be in the center field and sometimes I might be in the box. You just never know who’s going to come down. That versatility is always important in the league."
When players left Halas Hall for the six-week break until training camp starts, Eberflus' mmessage was just like before they arrived in the spring—come in with your track shoes on.
"Really just come in ready to work, come in ready to run to the ball, come in in shape," Brisker said. "You know, come in and make sure we're on point."
Brisker is ready to run some more.
"I feel like under coach (former defensive coordinator Brent) Pry, our defense at Penn State, you know he did a great of telling us to run to the ball and you know probably the same exact things that coach wants us to do here," Brisker said. "So I feel like my coach prepared me.
"You know back there we had a great defense also. Coming here, just make sure that I do the same thing that they want me to do."
He's been doing that all spring.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
