Jaquan Brisker joined the Chicago Bears at a time when the team hit the reset button. General manager Ryan Poles dumped all the bloated contracts and all the veterans he could. The message was clear from the beginning. He intended to accumulate resources and rebuild this thing from scratch. Brisker became one of his first draft picks, and someone he hopes will become a major locker room presence. All signs point to the safety already establishing himself in a leadership role, helped by his outstanding rookie season.
However, it was clear that the culture that the Poles wanted to build would take time. The locker room last season was packed with too many players who weren’t part of the Bears’ long-term picture. That created a lot of uncertainty and a lack of confidence about the direction of the team. According to NBC Sports Chicago’s Josh Shrock and others, the atmosphere at Halas Hall has changed dramatically in the last five months.
I’ve covered the 49ers, Raiders and Patriots. There’s a different aura around a team with guys whose teammates describe them as “dude.” Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, Rob Gronkowski, Fred Warner, and yes, Antonio Brown come to mind.
The Bears had none of that last year. It can be argued that Fields will knock on that door at the end of the season if certain checkpoints are reached.
For now, Moore and Edmunds serve as two pieces that create the turning of the tide.. Gravitational forces that can take everyone with them and be the building blocks of what comes next.
DJ Moore and Tremaine Edmunds, the Bears’ two biggest veteran additions, have already made their presence felt at practice. It seems to have created an air of optimism, showing in how everyone operates on the field. Brisker confirmed it on Twitter.
Jaquan Brisker leads a new generation of Bears.
The team has transformed over the past two offseasons. The Poles downloaded an older generation of players who had a chance to conquer immortality. They were close, looking like Super Bowl contenders in 2018. Sadly, they never got together. Poor roster moves after that season led to the team’s demise. Now a new regime is trying to build this in a different way. Poles focuses on accumulating cheap, young talent through the draft while adding proven products on the younger side through free agency and trades.
Moore and Edmunds are not the only examples. Jaquan Brisker is another. He, Kyler Gordon and Braxton Jones showed a lot of potential as rookies. First-round pick Darnell Wright looks like a ready-to-use starter at right tackle. Justin Fields took a big step forward in his development last year. It’s not hard to understand why players feel this team is headed in the right direction. They may not be ready for prime time yet, but there’s no reason to think they won’t win more games this season.
