Chicago Bears strong safety Jaquan Brisker’s emotions might have gotten the best of him in Week 12 watching his team play another week without him.
Brisker has not played since entering the NFL’s concussion protocol on October 7, but he has remained active on social media during games throughout his absence. For the most part, Brisker fires off posts that read like an excited fan watching a game, hyping up the Bears for their successes and bemoaning the situations that break against them.
During the first quarter of Week 12’s loss to Minnesota, though, Brisker wrote one post on his X account that seemed sharply critical of his Bears teammates in the secondary.
“Miss me yet?!!” Brisker wrote on X in a since-deleted post.
Brisker wrote his post directly after the Bears defense allowed Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold to complete a 45-yard pass to wide receiver Jordan Addison near the end of the first quarter, setting up Minnesota for its first scoring drive from Chicago’s 2-yard line.
In other words, there is no mystery as to what evoked such a response from Brisker — or what then prompted him, a young leader of the defense, to delete his message. Even still, Brisker reposted some responses from fans to his since-deleted message, such as one that read: “No coincidence we’re giving up these big plays without you, #9.”
Hopefully, Brisker’s teammates won’t take things too personally — at least for his sake.
Jaquan Brisker Cannot Return Until At Least Week 15
Brisker has rightfully grown impatient waiting to return to the field, but he must still wait another two games — at least — before he is eligible to return to the roster.
Brisker has been dealing with a concussion since sustaining a head injury while forcing a fumble in Week 5’s win over the Carolina Panthers on October 6. While the NFLPA’s independent neurotrauma consultant cleared him to return and play out the rest of the game, he reported concussion-like symptoms the next day and has not played since.
Initially, expectations were that Brisker would not miss much time. A study from the National Library of Medicine that examined NFL players from 2015 to 2020 found that concussed players missed a median of nine days while recovering from their injury. The Bears also had the benefit of a Week 7 bye that offered more time for him to recover.
Brisker’s situation, however, has proven to be an outlier. The 25-year-old spent 39 days on the Bears’ active roster attempting to work through the league’s protocol before the team acted on November 14 and placed him on injured reserve, a move that guaranteed he would not be eligible to play again until December 17’s rematch with the Vikings.
There is also Brisker’s history with concussions to consider. His latest injury is his third known concussion since the Bears selected him in the second round of the 2022 draft. While Brisker is no doubt eager to return to play — as his social media activity makes clear — his health is paramount and should be the priority when determining his return.
Jonathan Owens Forces Turnover in Relief Outing
The Bears would certainly prefer to have Brisker available in the deep field, but one of their backup safeties — veteran Jonathan Owens — made an impact against the Vikings.
With the Vikings on the doorstep of a touchdown on their first offensive series in Week 12’s game, Owens reached his hands in and ripped the football away from running back Aaron Jones — his 2023 teammate with the Green Bay Packers — to force a turnover for the Bears. Chicago did not score on the ensuing drive, but it staved off the Vikings from scoring any points for another two drives, which helped the Bears stay in the fight.
Owens also nearly added an interception for the Bears in the second quarter. He picked off a deep pass intended for Justin Jefferson down the left sideline and landed in the end zone for a touchback that would have given the Bears the ball back at their 20-yard line, but a defensive pass interference call on cornerback Jaylon Johnson wiped it out.
All in all, Owens finished with a season-high eight total tackles along with his forced fumble and fumble recovery while playing his most snaps yet for the Bears.
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