The Chicago Bears will be looking to get off on the right foot this weekend when they play against the Green Bay Packers. Week 1 of the NFL season is extremely important as teams look to set the tone for the upcoming season.
After a tough 2022 campaign, which included a 10-game losing streak to finish the season, the Bears want to get off to a hot start. Defeating an NFC North rival that has owned them for pretty much the last three decades would make it that much sweeter.
However, the Bears may be without a key contributor when they take the field Sunday afternoon. Safety Jaquan Brisker has been rehabbing from a soft tissue injury that has kept him sidelined for multiple weeks and has jeopardized his availability for Week 1.
“He’s doing things this weekend,” Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said during a press conference on Thursday, August 31. “He’s been in there in practice this week, which has been good. And he’s been working off to the side also during practice, so he’s starting to get himself in there and we feel good [about] where he is. Wednesday will be a big day for him when we get back into the pads. So it’ll be a big day for us.”
Brisker’s injury status is shrouded in a bit of mystery, however. All that has been revealed is that he is dealing with something, but the severity and what exactly is has not been revealed.
It will be interesting to see what the Bears list him with when the team’s first official injury report has to be shared on Wednesday. It will also give an idea about how close he is to getting on the field, as any participation would be considered a step in the right direction.
“It’s just the wait and see. How does the rehab go this weekend? Because he’s doing something every day,” Eberflus continued. “Then when you get the pads on and start cracking and doing full-speed movements, then we’ll see where it is.”
Not having Brisker on the field against the Packers would be a huge blow to Chicago. As a rookie, he led the Bears with 4.0 sacks and was second on the team with 104 total tackles in 15 games.
Not having a player of that caliber in the lineup would put the Bears behind the eight-ball in their season opener.
