NFC Notes: Jaquan Brisker, Mark Murphy, Bears, Packers, Vikings

Bears

Bears DB Jaquan Brisker is confident heading into 2025 after suffering another concussion that ended his 2024 campaign prematurely.

“I can’t wait to show the world what’s coming,” Brisker said, via Casino Bets. “Everybody’s writing me off right now, but that’s when I’m at my best.”

Brisker said he had trouble passing the concussion protocol after suffering a concussion during week 5 of last season.

“There are like five different types of concussions, and I had a certain concussion,” Brisker said. “Really, I had to retrain my nervous system. That is why I took so long. It wasn’t my brain, it wasn’t my head. It was really my nervous system, and once I retrained that, I felt great.”

Brisker said after speaking with doctors that he’s confident in both his short and long-term health prognosis.

“It really doesn’t concern me at all, especially talking with my doctors,” Brisker said. “Asking different questions, seeing how healthy my brain is. Everything went well. I got every answer that I needed.  There’s not a number on concussions. It doesn’t say if you get five (your career is over). I know people who probably had, what, six, seven concussions right now in the league that are playing and and got paid. So there’s not a number on the concussion. It’s just how you feel, where your brain health is, and I’m in a great spot.”

Brisker believes he can be an All-Pro so long as he remains healthy.

“All-Pro and Pro Bowl, period,” Brisker said. “First team, easy. My rookie year, I think I could have gotten Rookie of the Year. I was ballin’, then got a concussion. Second year, I was on the rise, about to take over, concussion. This year I already had All-Pro numbers. The only person who had better numbers than me — and it was just the interceptions — was Xavier McKinney. Everything else, I was leading in every category. Ball was coming to me and it was getting dangerous.  Every single year, I was going like that, and then something happened. But we fixed that this year. It won’t happen in the future. So to me, to everyone — the coaches around the league are always giving me great dialogue — as long as I stay healthy, it’s going to be All-Pro.”

Brisker said he hasn’t approached the team about a potential contract extension and said he’s focused on remaining healthy and finishing a full season.

“We’re both not really focused on that,” Brisker said. “We’re focused on this year, finishing out this year, and showing what I can really do. Last year I knew, once my season was over, that it’s gonna focus on this year. Not the (potential) money, but just focus on finishing the year.  When I finish this year — you guys will see. It’s gonna be something you guys have never seen before, especially from a safety. It was getting like that. I was on a roll with having one of the seasons they’ve never seen before. People know that. People know the path. It’s going to get ugly for the league.”

Packers

The Packers officially submitted the proposal to ban the “tush-push” this offseason, which was made famous by the Eagles. President Mark Murphy explained the NFL’s chief medical officer Allen Sills “felt very strongly” about the possible injury implications the play could create. 

“In terms of safety, there haven’t been that many plays, so there wasn’t a lot of injury data, but it was a very small sample size,” Murphy said, via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic. “I was really moved by Allen Sills. He felt very strongly that it was just a question of when there’d be a catastrophic injury with this.”

Murphy points out former Eagles C Jason Kelce publicly commented on the tush-push being a dangerous play. 

“That’s why we have a chief medical officer looking at it,” Murphy said. “And I believe (former Eagles center) Jason Kelce has made public comments about, he’s glad he’s not involved in the play anymore, because he felt it was pretty dangerous. And Dr. Sills can speak for himself, but the angle of it and the nature and the makeup of the play really does lend itself (to injury). The centers and the people right in the middle of it, you’ve got that much force on both sides … I think he is right. I think a lot of people really were persuaded by it, but obviously there’s people that think it’s a safe play and no different than a quarterback sneak.”

Murphy said their entire coaching staff was involved in their proposal, and the NFL’s competition committee was “strongly in favor of it as well.”

“We were all involved, and Matt (LaFleur) had to present it to the coaches, but we also worked with the league office,” Murphy said. “The competition committee was pretty strongly in favor of it as well.”

Vikings

Vikings WR Jordan Addison could get suspended for a misdemeanor DUI citation, which would likely lead to WR Jalen Nailor as a short-term fill-in. Minnesota HC Kevin O’Connell reflected on Nailor’s expanded role a year ago when asked about what they would do in the potential absence of Addision. 

“I think we basically went through that last year with Jordan [missing games],” O’Connell said, via ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. “We essentially, for two and a half games, didn’t have him, and we were able to beat the San Francisco 49ers and the Houston Texans with Jalen Nailor playing huge roles in those games.”