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Chicago Bears defensive back Jaquan Brisker #9 dances on the field during the first quarter against the Carolina Panthers at Soldier Field, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
Every day that Bears safety Jaquan Brisker was in concussion protocol — and there were a lot of them — his mom would ask if he was ready to return to playing. Each time, he said he was.
It never happened.
“I told [my mom] I’m about to be playing this week,” Brisker said Wednesday in his first meeting with Bears reporters since the injury. “I really thought I was fine, to be honest. I mean, it was just a hard process, a hard thing. Obviously, I wanted to be out there playing football, but I just couldn’t. I physically couldn’t.”
Brisker was concussed when he tackled Panthers tight end Tommy Tremble in Week 5. Tremble left the game immediately with a concussion. Brisker kept playing and didn’t feel the effects of the hit until he went to bed that night. He reported them to the Bears the next morning, hours before they were set to fly to London.
He missed the rest of the season with a head injury that proved increasingly scary and frustrating.
He couldn’t pass the league’s concussion protocol, a five-step process that is followed by clearance from team doctors and an independent neurologist.
Eventually, Brisker was sent to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s renowned sports medicine concussion program. There, he was diagnosed with a vestibular concussion, which features dizziness and vertigo and usually requires a longer recovery time. Brisker was given drills to try to retrain his brain. He’d track tennis balls side-to-side with his eyes and try to catch them, testing his body’s special awareness. He was cleared by the Bears before the start of the team’s offseason program.
“It was hard being away from football, especially week to week, …” said Brisker, who’s played the sport since he was 4. “It was kind of getting sad and depressing.”
Despite having suffered concussions in each of his first three NFL seasons, Brisker said he has never considered retirement. His parents didn’t ask him to, either. He said he’s not worried about his long-term health.
“I am just focused on playing ball,” he said. “I’m really clear of mind, you know. I’m really good.”
Brisker won’t put on pads until training camp and won’t hit anyone at full speed until the Bears’ preseason games, if then. But he’s already making himself felt — few players have jabbered more during offseason practices than the 26-year-old.
“He’s excited, he’s passionate about the game, he loves playing football,” coach Ben Johnson said. “He likes to talk a little bit, too, which I appreciate.”
Johnson already had a scouting report on Brisker from his days as the Lions’ offensive coordinator — he’s a physical defender who thumps like a linebacker, particularly on run plays, and sometimes susceptible to getting beat on play-action passes.
“He was a guy that you had to earmark,” Johnson said.
Brisker vowed to keep playing the same way.
“When I’m out there, I make plays,” he said. “I go attack the ball and I come down and hit. I come down and tackle, and I’m a leader. So I really just have to be out there.”
It’s more fun than watching the Bears on television, something he did with his family last season while trying to recover from the head injury. It only made his frustration worse.
“I wanted to be out there,” he said. “Especially if I’m not out there, I want to be with my teammates or around them seeing or hearing them talk … All of that stuff was hard. I got past that. I’m over it.”
And excited to be back.
“I want to hit right now,” he said.