Rookie safety Jaquan Brisker shines in Bears’ preseason win over Chiefs

CHICAGO – In the span of four plays, Bears rookie safety Jaquan Brisker had three impressive plays on the football – a tackle for loss, a big hit and a near interception.

It was a good day for the 23-year-old out of Penn State. The Bears beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 19-14, on Saturday at Soldier Field and Brisker shined defensively with four tackles, one tackle for loss and one pass defended.

That one defensive series, midway through the second quarter, showed Brisker’s full range of capabilities. He was making tackles in open space, finding his way into the backfield and getting his hands on the football.

“[I was] just flying around, just doing what we do in practice,” Brisker said. “Make sure that we’re doing the H.I.T.S. principle, doing what coach expected of us.”

Brisker embodied just about everything head coach Matt Eberflus wants his defense to represent.

“The tackling,” Eberflus said. “Deflecting the ball, I think he should’ve had maybe a takeaway or two. He was high-energy. Man, he likes to hit. I really liked that aggressive style for him, how he’s playing right now.”

This was the first time Bears fans really had a chance to see Brisker hit someone. He has shown flashes during training camp practices, but those are controlled settings where the defense usually isn’t tackling.

During camp, Brisker has shown an affinity for finding his way to the football. Whether he’s punching the ball out, making an interception or just making a good, hard tackle, the rookie in the No. 9 jersey is always in the mix.

“It’s always good to hit another team, especially coming all together as one,” Brisker said. “In camp, we’re going against the offense all the time, so it’s always good to see a new face.”

The Bears played without fellow rookie Kyler Gordon, a cornerback out of Washington who the Bears drafted 39th overall, nine spots ahead of Brisker. Gordon has been sitting out practice with an undisclosed injury.

The defense struggled against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ starters, but most defenses do. Mahomes led an 11-play, 72-yard touchdown drive during his lone possession on the field.

For rookies that figure to be in the starting lineup, like Brisker and left tackle Braxton Jones, these preseason reps are invaluable.

“Just getting some confidence and doing what I do on the field is huge for me,” Jones said. “I think that’s a big thing, just getting more and more reps and being able to get comfortable, see different things, see different types of guys, different rushers.”

Jones and the starting offense played 18 snaps. He is the front-runner to win the starting job at left tackle, which is pretty impressive for a fifth-round draft pick out of FCS Southern Utah.

“A big thing I noticed was just that [the game] was a lot slower than I thought it would be,” Jones said. “In practice, it’d been a lot faster and just kind of getting into it was nice. I felt like I was letting it go a little bit.”

[ Bears notes: Here’s what Justin Fields, Chicago Bears’ offense looked like in preseason victory over Chiefs ]