Bears news: Bears in London, Jaquan Brisker concussion, Caleb Williams vs. the blitz

How are we feeling, Chicago Bears fans? On the heels of two straight home wins to move to 3-2, I'm guessing pretty good. There's a lot to like about the Bears' recent performance, from the continued excellence of the defense to the rapid development of Caleb Williams. This is no time to let up, though, because as well as the Bears have played the last two weeks, the rest of the NFC North has kept pace.

The Vikings are the NFC's lone remaining undefeated team after holding on to beat the Jets in London. The Lions are 3-1 and coming off a bye, and the Packers, who were without starting quarterback Jordan Love for two games, are tied with the Bears at 3-2 after winning in Los Angeles over the Rams.

The Bears have just one game left before their bye in Week 7, and it's an interesting one, as they'll travel to London to face the Jaguars at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Let's kick off our news of the week with that, including what Bears fans stateside need to know.

God save the king (from the Monsters of the Midway)

Playing overseas presents unique challenges to an NFL team, and the Bears, who have only played two international games in their history (most recently in a 2019 loss to the Raiders), are at an experience disadvantage this week despite technically being the home team.

That's because the Jaguars are the NFL's unofficial international ambassadors, with 11 London games already under their belt. Team owner Shad Kahn also owns Fulham FC of the Premier League, which makes the partnership a natural fit. With the exception of 2020, Jacksonville has played in London every year since 2013, including twice last year. This game against the Bears will be the first of two again, as the Jags will stay in England to take on the Patriots next week.

The Bears opted to make a weeklong trip out of this unique situation by flying across the pond on Monday night and arriving on Tuesday morning. This was done to allow the team enough time for their bodies to adjust to the time difference and is a departure from what the Bears did in 2019 when they didn't travel until Thursday night.

The Bears are 1-1 in London, while the Jaguars are 6-5. Check the official team page for more information, including watch party information, exclusive London merchandise and more.

The Bears may be without top playmaker Jaquan Brisker this week

The Bears have weathered their fair share of injuries through the season's first five weeks, including being without Keenan Allen for two games with a heel injury and withstanding multiple injuries to the offensive line.

Against the Jaguars, it's looking like the Bears defense is going to be without Jaquan Brisker, which is a real blow given how well the third-year safety has been playing. Brisker had the game of his life against the Rams in Week 4, with 12 tackles, a sack and an interception, and he was well on his way to another great performance before suffering a concussion late in the second quarter against the Panthers.

The injury happened on a play where Brisker forced a fumble on Panthers tight end Tommy Tremble that Gervon Dexter Sr. ended up recovering for the Bears. Brisker appeared to be trying to tackle Tremble low, but Tremble lowered his head, resulting in a scary head-to-head collision that concussed both players.

The NFL's concussion protocol has been extremely spotty when it comes to protecting players, and for some reason, Brisker was allowed to continue playing after clearly being affected by this hit. He self-reported concussion symptoms on Monday, after which the team announced that he wouldn't be flying to London with the rest of his teammates.

There's a chance that Brisker could be cleared later in the week and still play in the game, but given that this is the third straight year he's been in the concussion protocol, it's probably best to let him rest up at home while the Bears play without him in London.

Brisker's absence would mean increased playing time for Elijah Hicks and Jonathan Owens, both of whom have mostly been relegated to special teams work this season.

Caleb Williams is figuring it out

Bears fans have to be absolutely giddy at the development of Caleb Williams, who played his best game of the season on Sunday. Williams threw for over 300 yards and two touchdowns while adding 34 yards with his legs, and he played with a veteran's poise in posting zero turnovers for the second straight week.

One area in which Williams has really progressed is in avoiding sacks. His sack total has decreased in every game since the Texans brought him down seven times in Week 2, and a big reason for that is his ability to get the ball out quickly and accurately against the blitz.

Most rookies struggle against the blitz, but Williams has been phenomenal in recent games. This has coincided with much better play from the offensive line and a vastly improved running game, but the top overall pick deserves a ton of credit for his improvement, too.

Williams is making reads and seeing the field at an advanced level, and he's been able to keep plays alive with his legs while still looking downfield. He had his best connection yet with DJ Moore on Sunday, as the Bears top receiver had five catches for 105 yards and two touchdowns, but five other Bears also had at least two catches on the day.

Detractors may point to the fact that the Rams and Panthers have two of the league's worst-ranked defenses, but you can't ignore what your eyes are telling you — Williams is playing at a very high level. Compare where he's at now as one of the main contributors in two straight wins, to where he was in Week 1 when the Bears won despite getting very little from him.

Now Williams will get the chance to face a Jaguars defense that just gave up 359 yards through the air to Joe Flacco and 34 points to a Colts offense that was missing Jonathan Taylor. Let's see if he can keep it up.