Wearing that same silly smirk he’s become accustomed to displaying these days, Lance Briggs walked out of the Bears’ locker room Sunday knowing he had played a strong game but unwilling to take credit.
“The only thing I’m going to say is that it was fun and I enjoyed playing with my boys,” Briggs said.
Briggs looked like he was having a blast, notching a team-high 12 tackles, recording a sack, deflecting a pass, forcing a fumble and recovering a fumble. About the only thing he didn’t do was score a touchdown. Maybe the Bears should consider putting him in instead of John St. Clair next time.
“Lance just plays hard and has a nose for the football,”‘ Brian Urlacher said. “I saw him being him today. He gets around the football and makes plays. He did the same for us last year. He’s a great player.”
Much has been made of Briggs’ off-the-field issues, which include a contract dispute and a scary Lamborghini crash.
But on the field, Briggs has had no issues, and the Bears are reaping the benefits of their one-year investment.
You could tell Briggs was in for a big game Sunday simply based on Kansas City’s first drive. He was involved in six of the Chiefs’ first nine plays, including a punishing hit on running back Michael Bennett. Bennett fumbled, but teammate Samie Parker recovered.
In the final three minutes, Briggs sealed the game when he recovered a fumble caused by Charles Tillman.
“Lance is a big-time player,” defensive coordinator Bob Babich said. “Big-time players show up in big games. We really felt comfortable that Lance would have a good game. We expect him to have a good game every week.”
Based on his 20-tackle performance over the first two games, Briggs is on track to do just that.
