Bear Digest

Jaquan Brisker puts out details of injury and lengthy IR stay

Bears safety says he had to "retrain" his nervous system after his third concussion in less than three years and says he'll alter the way he plays.
Gene Chamberlain|
Jaquan Brisker played one more game after this win over the Rams and then was done for the 2024 season with a concussion.
Jaquan Brisker played one more game after this win over the Rams and then was done for the 2024 season with a concussion. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Bears safety Jaquan Brisker goes into his contract year, coming off three concussions in three years but in a published interview remained positive about his future with the Bears and in the NFL.

"It really doesn’t concern me at all, especially talking with my doctors," Brisker said. "Asking different questions, seeing how healthy my brain is. Everything went well. I got every answer that I needed."

A situation many players would consider devastating is a chance to rebound for Brisker, according to an interview the fourth-year player did with Kyle Odegard of the website Casinobeats.com.

Brisker is looking ahead and not behind.

"It’s just how you feel, where your brain health is, and I’m in a great spot.”
Bears safety Jaquan Brisker

"There's not a number on concussions," Brisker told Odegard. "It doesn’t say if you get five (your career is over). I know people who probably had, what, six, seven concussions right now in the league that are playing and, and got paid. So there’s not a number on the concussion. It’s just how you feel, where your brain health is, and I’m in a great spot.”

Brisker's return from concussion protocol was stated by Ryan Poles after Ben Johnson's hiring and again twice over the first few weeks of February by Brisker himself via Twitter, then he has said it again a few other times over the last six weeks for those who didn't seem to pay attention.

The great concern was why he sat out the rest of the season after his injury occurred in Week 5 against Carolina.

“Really, I had to retrain my nervous system," Brisker said in the interview. "That is why I took so long. It wasn’t my brain, it wasn’t my head. It was really my nervous system, and once I retrained that, I felt great."

The Bears are in position to draft another safety and probably will at some point because none of their safeties are under contract for 2026. If Brisker is to extend his Bears career, he might need to be a little less aggressive.


“What am I going to do different? I’m gonna change up my game just a little bit," Brisker told Odegard. "I mean, I’m still gonna hit people. They’re still gonna get it, but I’m not gonna go too crazy. Yeah, I’ll say it like that.

"I’m gonna adjust my game, but if you really look at my game, that was like the only hit I ever had that gave me a concussion. So I’m gonna play cleaner, but people are still gonna get hit."

The Bears have Elijah Hicks, Jonathan Owens, Tarvarius Moore and former Panthers player Alex Cook behind starters Brisker and Kevin Byard for this season, so depth might not be as much of an issue as would having a future starter ready to go by the start of 2026.

Brisker can be it if he avoids more concussions.

"It won’t happen in the future," he said. "So to me, to everyone—the coaches around the league are always giving me great dialogue—as long as I stay healthy, it’s going to be All-Pro.”

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.