LAKE FOREST, Ill — The Chicago Bears’ dominant 31-3 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday at Soldier Field featured one player who just won a significant honor.

Linebacker D’Marco Jackson was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his seven tackles, one sack and one interception against the Browns. He registered the first sack and the first interception in his NFL career, and he was the only player to have those statistics in a Week 15 winning effort.

“Yeah, it’s great. Happy for him,” Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said Wednesday in a press conference at Halas Hall. “I think anytime these guys come in and they work the way that they do, they prepare the way that they do, and then they go out and play well, and look, he’s played well for us, whatever it has been the last three, four weeks. He’s played well for us. So, I think it’s a credit to him, and I think it’s a credit to those assistant coaches who have been able to get those guys ready.”

Jackson joins three other Bears who have won the weekly award — Caleb Williams (offense, Week 3), Josh Blackwell (special teams, Week 4) and Colston Loveland (offense, Week 9). Nahshon Wright won the NFC Defensive Player of the Month award in November.

Bears head coach Ben Johnson awarded Jackson a game ball for his performance Sunday, and the 6-foot-1, 233-pound linebacker gave a quick speech in front of his teammates in the postgame locker room.

“I’m proud of how we came out here and executed,” Jackson said. “But I ain’t going to lie to you, bro. I still got a bad taste in my mouth from last week, bruh. We got to get our get back against these boys coming up next week.”

That week is here, with the matchup against the Green Bay Packers. Jackson finished with three total tackles, all solo, in that first game at Lambeau Field in Week 14. He has 41 total tackles, three passes defensed, one sack and one interception on the season.

Jackson, a 2022 fifth-round draft pick from Appalachian State, played for Allen in New Orleans for two seasons, and the Bears claimed him off waivers in August. Jackson’s familiarity with Allen’s scheme clearly has benefited the Bears’ defense, which has suffered numerous injuries throughout the season.

“So the thing that I knew about him … I knew what was inside his heart,” Allen said. “In terms of the type of person he was, in terms of the type of worker he was, in terms of how he was going to fit into the locker room. There was no question about that. And so — and I think like with a lot of young players — sometimes it takes some time to develop, but if you keep working at it and you’re smart, you’ll work at it, you got some athletic ability, you end up getting better.”