After an impressive rookie season in which he led the Bears with four sacks, safety Jaquan Brisker has big plans for his second NFL season. He’s expecting to be even more versatile this season, playing both safety positions, to be even more active around the ball.
“Just make plays — whether it’s in run support or in the back end,” Brisker said. “Getting more [turnovers], creating more turnovers — interceptions, forced fumbles and really getting the ball away. Doing whatever to help my team and try to move around a little bit.”
Brisker said “efficiency in movement” is a key to making more plays. “Never wasting steps — that’s how you get closer to the ball,” he said. “And also, the quarterback throwing my way at some point.”
Brisker has as much upside as any of the Bears’ young players after establishing himself last season. But he sees improving players all around him, which is one reason why he is so upbeat about the Bears making a big jump from the 3-14 finish last season.
“It’s a different vibe just in the building, period,” Brisker said. “Different vibe defense, way different vibe, a lot different swag. The chemistry’s really different from the back seven to the front four. Everybody feels it.”
And not just on defense.
“On offense you feel it,” Brisker said. “Justin [Fields] and those guys, they’re coming together. They look different. They look like they’ve been out there for years, I’m telling you. The timing and things like that, it looks very different on both sides of the ball. I told them that yesterday that we look very different and that we’ve just got to keep it going. We’ve just got to keep it going.”
From the time he was drafted, Brisker has had a professional approach to the game that can be infectious — like counseling this year’s rookies to stay in shape and take care of their bodies, because the “rookie wall” is a myth.
“There’s no such thing,” Brisker said. “If you love football, you love football. Why would you ever be tired? That doesn’t even make sense. It’s football. This is what we do. It’s our job. So why would you hit the rookie wall? Just continue to be consistent and don’t really whine or things like that.”
