Bears Place S Jaquan Brisker On IR

NOVEMBER 17: Poles does not sound optimistic that Brisker will return this year. In a statement that Cronin passes along, Poles said that Brisker “just wasn’t making the progress that we wanted. We also know from a performance standpoint, when you’re out of football for a while, there has to be a ramp up period to get your body in shape, to play the game and avoid other injuries such as soft tissue injuries. … So we’re going to slow this down and take time and allow him to take his time to come back. Would love to see him back this year, but we’re just going to take it one week at a time.”

NOVEMBER 14: Although staff turmoil has engulfed the Bears once again, the team has seen a concerning situation develop in its secondary. Jaquan Brisker is heading to IR because of a concussion.

The starting Chicago safety has been in the protocol since suffering a head injury in Week 5, ESPN.com’s Courtney Cronin notes. This IR placement will lead to four more missed games. A 2022 second-round pick, Brisker has been a starter throughout his NFL career. He has also suffered three concussions in three seasons.

While this will give Brisker more time to recover, concussions rarely result in IR trips. This placement coming five weeks after the injury occurred introduces more cause for concern. Brisker started 15 games in each of his first two seasons and was in the Bears’ lineup for the team’s first five contests this year. This concussion has since defined his third NFL season, and the Penn State product will be shut down until mid-December.

Drafted in Ryan Poles‘ first offseason, Brisker joined a rebuilding team. He has since been one of the building blocks acquired on defense, joining Tyrique Stevenson and Kyler Gordon as second-round picks installed as starting DBs. As the Bears have not seen Caleb Williams show too much just yet, their defense has helped hold down the fort. Chicago’s defense ranks seventh in scoring and 13th in yards yielded.

The Bears had ruled out Brisker early in the week before their Week 10 and Week 11 games, with the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs pointing to more optimism about this injury existing prior to that. It is too early to speculate about Brisker’s career, but this concussion will cost him at least eight games. That is certainly on the high end. Brisker came into this season after undergoing thumb surgery as well.

Chicago, which cut Eddie Jackson and signed Kevin Byard this offseason, have turned to 2022 seventh-round pick Elijah Hicks in Brisker’s stead. Pro Football Focus has viewed Hicks as a solid replacement, ranking him ninth among all safeties — albeit on just 157 snaps — this season.