Jaquan Brisker calls out his Bears teammates in a now-deleted post

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Bears safety Jaquan Brisker.

Chicago Bears strong safety Jaquan Brisker may have been overcome with emotion in Week 12 as he watched his team play another week without him.

Brisker hasn’t played since entering the NFL’s concussion protocol on Oct. 7, but remained active on social media during games during his absence. For the most part, Brisker posts posts that read like an excited fan watching a game, cheering the Bears for their successes and lamenting the situations that work against the Bears.

However, during the first quarter of the loss to Minnesota in Week 12, Brisker wrote a post on his X account in which he harshly criticized his Bears teammates in the secondary.

“Do you miss me already?!!!” Brisker wrote about X in a now-deleted post.

Brisker wrote his post right after the Bears defense allowed Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold to complete a 45-yard pass to wide receiver Jordan Addison late in the first quarter, setting up Minnesota for its first scoring drive from Chicago’s 2 -Prepare yard line.

In other words, there is no mystery about what provoked such a reaction in Brisker — or what then caused him, a young defense leader, to delete his message. Still, Brisker reposted some responses from fans to his now-deleted message, such as one that read, “No coincidence, we’re giving up these big games without you, #9.”

Hopefully Brisker’s teammates don’t take things too personally – at least for his sake.

Jaquan Brisker cannot return until Week 15 at the earliest

Brisker has rightly become impatient as he waits to return to the pitch, but he will have to wait at least two more games before he is allowed back into the squad.

Brisker has struggled with a concussion since suffering a head injury while forcing a fumble in the Week 5 win over the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 6. Although the NFLPA’s independent neurotrauma consultant cleared him to return and play the remainder of the game, he reported concussion-like symptoms the next day and has not played since.

Initially, it was assumed that Brisker wouldn’t miss much time. A National Library of Medicine study that looked at NFL players from 2015 to 2020 found that players with a concussion missed an average of nine days to recover from their injury. The Bears also benefited from a Week 7 bye that gave him more time to recover.

However, Brisker’s situation has proven to be an outlier. The 25-year-old spent 39 days on the Bears’ active roster trying to work through the league’s protocol before the team acted on Nov. 14 and placed him on injured reserve, a move that guaranteed he wouldn’t be eligible to play again until December would 17’s rematch with the Vikings.

There’s 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 undoubtedly eager to return to action – as his social media activity makes clear – his health is paramount and should be a top priority when deciding whether to return.

Jonathan Owens forces turnover on assist

The Bears would certainly prefer to have Brisker available deep field, but one of their backup safeties – veteran Jonathan Owens – made an impact for the Vikings.

As the Vikings were on the verge of a touchdown on their first offensive series in the Week 12 game, Owens reached out and ripped the football away from running back Aaron Jones – his 2023 teammate with the Green Bay Packers – to create a turnover Vikings force bears. Chicago didn’t score on the ensuing drive, but it prevented the Vikings from scoring on two more drives, helping the Bears stay in the fight.

Owens also nearly added an interception for the Bears in the second quarter. He intercepted 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 negated it .

All told, Owens finished the season with a season-high eight tackles, as well as his forced fumble and fumble recovery, while playing his most snaps to date for the Bears.

Jordan J. Wilson is a sports reporter who covers the NFL and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers. He previously covered all levels of sports – high school, college and professional – for a variety of publications, including The Indianapolis Star, The News-Gazette, Springfield State-Journal Register and Peoria Journal Star. More about Jordan J. Wilson