The Chicago Bears have the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week in cornerback Josh Blackwell, but safety Jaquan Brisker believes the NFL got something wrong with their weekly awards. Brisker did not advocate against Blackwell – or for himself, for that matter.
Instead, Brisker stumped for fellow starter Kevin Byard, whose 2-interception performance helped secure a road victory against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 4.
Bears’ Jaquan Brisker Rips NFL’s Decision During Bears’ Bye Week
Jaquan Brisker Stands Up for Bears Teammate Kevin Byard
Byard also logged 7 total tackles for the second straight week, but his INTs helped Brisker and the Bears overcome some offensive hiccups as well as their own issues stopping the run. The league selected Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell for the award instead.
That did not sit well with Brisker.
“The fact it should be two Bear players on here,” Brisker posted on X on October 1, quoting the NFL’s post announcing the awards. “KB got robbed! Go check out his stats.”
“Two picks and some tackles … is not worthy no more ?!?!” Bisker said in a follow-up post commenting on the results. “They ain’t wanna put two bear players on it. Cause cmon now. A pick alone is worth GOLD.”
Quinyon Mitchell Beats Out Kevin Byard for NFC DPOW
The No. 22 overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft, Mitchell tallied 5 pass deflections and 5 combined stops in the Eagles’ 25-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. According to Pro Football Reference, Mitchell also allowed two completions for 6 yards in nine targets.
Byard allowed two catches for 16 yards while being targeted in coverage four times, though positional differences alter how those numbers are viewed.
Byard was also the last Bear to touch Ashton Jeanty during his 64-yard touchdown run.
Whether or not the NFL’s panel of voters held that lasting image against Byard is unclear. It did give Mitchell an edge in missed tackle rate. However, this is also not the first time Brisker has taken exception to the league’s choice of weekly award winners.
Brisker lost out on Defensive Player of the Week in the NFC in Week 14 during the 2023 campaign to Minnesota Vikings linebacker Ivan Pace Jr. Then, Brisker cited the Bears’ record (5-9) as a potential reason he went overlooked.
“[It’s] Player of the Week. Player of the Week, you know what I mean?” Brisker told Clocker Sports during an interview in December 2023. “You go out there, you outperform a lot of players in the league — Like I said, if it was any other player, no matter what the record was, they would have gave it to them.”
This year, the Bears are 2-2 and the Eagles are 4-0.
Again, it is unclear exactly why the NFL chose Mitchell over Byard, but that was the result. It is something that the Bears can use to fuel them as a collective, and it seems Brisker is ready to do just that, posting, “We going go harder!”
Kevin Byard Wishes Draft Classmate Well
Byard is in his second season with the Bears, but he entered the league as a third-round draft pick with the Tennessee Titans in 2016. One of his draft classmates, cornerback Xavien Howard, announced his retirement on Wednesday.
“Congrats on a great career @Iamxavienhoward,” Byard posted on X on October 1. “That 2016 class had some [ball hawks] straight up! [salute emoji]
The news came as a surprise.
Howard has started all four games for the Indianapolis Colts this season. Originally a second-round pick in 2016, Howard began his career with the Miami Dolphins. Bears head coach Ben Johnson was an assistant coach in Miami for the first three years of Howard’s career.
A four-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro who led the league in interceptions in 2020, Howard also had his share of off-field troubles.
He finished his 10-year career with 342 total tackles and 29 interceptions in 104 games played.