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Courtney Cronin, ESPN writer
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — The Chicago Bears placed safety Jaquan Brisker on injured reserve on Thursday.
Brisker, 25, has been in the NFL’s concussion protocol since Oct. 7 after suffering an injury while forcing a turnover in a 36-10 win over Carolina in Week 5. The safety reported concussion-like symptoms a day after the Panthers game and No traveled with the Bears to play in London.
Brisker has missed four straight games and had already been ruled out for the Bears’ Week 11 matchup against the Green Bay Packers. In back-to-back weeks, coach Matt Eberflus said Wednesday before Chicago’s next game that Brisker won’t play.
“He’s still going through concussion protocol and working with the trainers,” Eberflus said. “We’ll see where that goes in terms of week to week.”
On November 1, Eberflus said Brisker was still experiencing concussion symptoms that prevented him from going through the league’s five-step concussion protocol.
“He’s made progress,” Eberflus said. “You participated in the meetings, you participated in the tour and you got into those things and then you have those symptoms. Again, it’s always going to be about your safety and your health and where you are.”
Brisker will miss Chicago’s next four games (against the Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers) before being eligible to return before Week 15.
This is Brisker’s third concussion diagnosed in the last three seasons. He missed two games as a rookie after suffering a concussion in Atlanta in November 2022. Against the Atlanta Falcons, Brisker was evaluated twice by medical staff for a head injury, but was allowed to return to the game both times. .
In a 30-12 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on October 22, 2023, Brisker was evaluated for a concussion after being involved in a collision on a 2-point conversion attempt, but played the rest of the game. The following week, as the Bears prepared to face the Los Angeles Chargers, Brisker was ruled out early with what the team described as an “illness,” which was later diagnosed as a concussion. The safety missed two games last season, against the Chargers and the New Orleans Saints.
Brisker has started all 35 games he has appeared in since being drafted in the 2022 second round.
