The Chicago Bears locker room was equivalent to a bombed-out city by the end of 2024. Everything was devastated. Guys were shellshocked and just ready for it all to be over. One can understand after what they'd been through. After a 3-2 start to the season, a disastrous Hail Mary loss in Washington kick-started the worst stretch of Bears football in probably the last 40 years. It had everything: blowout losses to bad teams, blocked field goals, overtime heartbreaks, and egregiously bad coaching decisions. Jaquan Brisker was there for all of it. He saw how bad it was.
Hope was in short supply after the season mercifully ended. Matt Eberflus may have been fired, but that was of little comfort. Players were skeptical that things would change. After all, the same people who hired him were in charge of finding the next guy. After an exhaustive search, they brought in young offensive wizard Ben Johnson. Nobody disputed his intelligence, but could he be a leader? Just a few months later, Brisker's comments to CHGO about the state of the Bears locker room reflect shock and joy about how different things are.
“It’s definitely different in the locker room,” safety Jaquan Brisker said. “It starts in practice. You can feel it. The energy is different in practice. The way guys are getting closer. The way we meet without the coaches and things like that and then the way we communicate on and off the field, it’s amazing. You can tell things are turning up and guys are believing.”
Is the Bears’ wild 25-24 victory against the Washington Commanders one they don’t win in the past?
“Yeah, possibility, yep,” Brisker said.
Jaquan Brisker can't just see the change. He can feel it.
What makes this process so telling is how it's happening. The Bears couldn't have had a worse start to the season. They coughed up a 17-6 lead against Minnesota in the 4th quarter to lose. Then they were crushed 52-21 in Detroit. Anybody with common sense knew the season was over. They'd seen how this played out with previous Bears teams. Johnson didn't care. He only increased the pressure on guys. Practices became more intense. Details were covered relentlessly. By the time Dallas came to town, the Bears were ready. That 31-14 thumping of the Cowboys seemed to provide the tiniest of sparks.
Then the team overcame a 24-19 deficit in the final minutes against Las Vegas to steal another win. Finally, in a sweet moment of revenge, they turned the tables on Washington to score another victory against the Commanders. Jaquan Brisker never thought it would be possible. Yet here they are, and it's largely because of Johnson's steadfast belief in the players and the process. Belief is growing, and that is a dangerous drug in this sport.
