Nearly 5 years have handed since that weekend, however Chicago Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards nonetheless factors to the continued drive he feels from it.
Edwards has began 60 NFL video games. He performed for the Philadelphia Eagles within the Super Bowl in February. This season with the Bears, he ranks sixth within the NFL with 131 tackles and fourth with 76 solo tackles.
But you understand what? Going undrafted out of Wisconsin in 2019 nonetheless eats at him.
“Coming out and going undrafted put a huge chip on my shoulder,” Edwards mentioned. “It was five years ago now, but it still sits with me. Honestly, just never being complacent with where I’m at has allowed me to just have that drive and motivation to keep going. I always want to do more for my teammates. I always want to make more plays. I still don’t think I’m the best player I can be yet.”
When Ryan Poles signed Edwards to a three-year, $19.5 million contract in March, the Bears basic supervisor known as it an “awesome story.” The former Lakes High School quarterback, now 27, was the most recent native man to affix the Bears, and he arrived following an increase to Eagles starter that many groups didn’t see coming.
Now, Edwards’ newest chapter is utilizing that chip to gas a season by which he’s a constant cog within the Bears defensive turnaround. The 6-foot-1, 242-pound weak-side linebacker set a Bears report for essentially the most tackles by way of 10 video games with 112. And by way of 13 heading into Sunday’s sport towards the Cleveland Browns, he additionally has seven tackles for a loss, two interceptions, 4 passes defended, a pressured fumble, two fumble recoveries, two sacks and 6 quarterback hits.
The manufacturing, linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi mentioned, comes from his instincts and a preparation and focus borne from his again story.
“Nothing was given to him,” Borgonzi mentioned. “He had to earn everything. And just that approach he has, you can kind of feel it, still to this day.”
The takeaway race
Edwards has plenty of performs he might think about for his favourite this season, together with two interceptions and a fumble restoration within the final three video games because the Bears totaled 11 takeaways.
But his favourite got here Oct. 15 towards the Minnesota Vikings.
Edwards bought by way of the Vikings offensive line on the blitz and swatted at quarterback Kirk Cousins’ arm. The soccer squirted into the air, and center linebacker Tremaine Edmunds laid out to catch it. The Bears’ two main 2023 free-agent linebacker additions mixed for the takeaway, which formally was dominated a pressured fumble and restoration within the sport e book.
Edwards picked the play as a result of he and Edmunds labored collectively to get it.
Borgonzi mentioned he sees a bond between the 2. Edmunds mentioned he’s “excited” to play subsequent to Edwards due to his work ethic, their communication and their means to play off each other. But the bond can also be a aggressive one as their unit tries to foster a takeaway race, fueled by a chart of Bears leaders coach Matt Eberflus has proven extra typically in current weeks, in line with security Jaquan Brisker.
“We’re competitive every day, trying to get a takeaway every day,” Edwards mentioned. “We’re each other’s biggest supporters as well. But we also want to one-up each other because that’s how growth happens.”
Edmunds and Edwards have performed their elements within the Bears protection’s surge over the past month, with Edmunds arising with two of his three interceptions and a pressured fumble in that span.
Meanwhile, Edwards jumped in entrance of Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff’s cross over the center to Donovan Peoples-Jones for his first interception as a Bear on Nov. 19.
His second interception got here every week later towards the Vikings, when cornerback Jaylon Johnson broke up Josh Dobbs’ cross to Okay.J. Osbourn. The ball popped into the air, and Edwards simply pulled it in.
And within the second assembly with the Lions on Sunday, Edwards jumped on a fumbled snap between middle Graham Glasgow and Goff. Edwards has talked about priding himself on all the time being across the ball, and it has paid off in current weeks.
“The first thing that you recognize with him — (when) you watch his tape when he’s in Philly or since he’s been here — is the instincts,” Eberflus mentioned. “He’s got great instincts for the football. That’s what you’ve got to have as a linebacker. He’s able to key and diagnose and beat guys to the punch quickly, and you see that week in and week out. He’s not a guy that runs 4.3 (in the 40-yard dash). He’s not super long. But he makes up for it with instincts. He’s a football player.”
It makes for an fascinating dynamic with Edmunds, a 6-foot-5, 250-pound former first-round decide, of whom Borgonzi just lately mentioned, “There’s not many guys in the world that are that big that can run that fast.”
That’s not Edwards. But he has different presents which have helped him make his climb.
‘They got something wrong’
While at Wisconsin, Edwards reworked himself from a Lakes quarterback who had by no means performed linebacker to a finalist for the 2017 Butkus Award, given to the very best collegiate linebacker within the nation.
He was a first-team All-American in that junior season after which a 2018 first-team All-Big Ten participant as he completed his four-year profession with 367 tackles, 10 interceptions, eight sacks and 37 1/2 tackles for a loss.
But within the lead-up to the draft, knocks on his athleticism had been throughout his media scouting reviews.
After Edwards ran 4.77 seconds within the 40-yard sprint at his Wisconsin professional day, the Athletic’s Dane Brugler gave him a fifth-round grade, saying “his average athletic traits limit his NFL upside, but his diagnose skills and hard-nosed play style should keep him on an NFL roster.” NFL.com’s prospect grade categorized him as “an average backup or special teamer.”
Edwards remembers his excessive hopes of that draft weekend — after which how upset he and his mother and father had been when he wasn’t picked. But he tried to not let it take down his confidence.
“It was more, ‘I know they got something wrong here,’ ” Edwards mentioned. “Watching someone out there going running in compression shorts is a hard judge of what kind of football player they’re going to be. I’ve been around a lot of great football players that haven’t tested well, and I’ve been around a lot of great football players that have tested well. I like to think anticipation and just understanding the game helps me get to the ball quicker.”
When he signed with the Eagles as an undrafted rookie, Edwards got down to show that from Day 1.
He contributed totally on particular groups in his rookie season however began 12 video games his second season and ended up making 47 begins over his 4 seasons there, turning into a key piece within the dominant protection that helped drive the Eagles to the Super Bowl within the 2022 season.
Edwards was round a whole lot of good veteran gamers early on and mentioned he realized the way to put together from security Rodney McLeod, defensive sort out Fletcher Cox, middle Jason Kelce and tight finish Zach Ertz. Edwards realized after his first season what an enormous piece placing within the work to higher perceive the sport could be.
“There’s only so many things that offenses can do, so just understanding concepts and certain formations has really helped me a lot,” Edwards mentioned. “It’s everything that we do. If you’re not prepared mentally, it’s going to be a tough day on Sunday for sure.”
Borgonzi mentioned preparation has helped Edwards make his rise, together with a whole lot of beginning reps over the past decade in school and the NFL and simply pure smarts. Those elements assist contribute to the distinction between timed velocity and enjoying velocity, he mentioned.
“His instincts and how fast he can key and diagnose things and get to the ball,” Borgonzi mentioned. “Because there are a lot of fast guys that don’t have the production he has. I think the reason he has that production is just how well he can process things.”
Edwards’ path has impressed different Bears gamers, particularly second-year linebacker Jack Sanborn, who has adopted a strikingly comparable journey to Edwards’.
They shared a highschool coach in Luke Mertens, who coached Edwards at Lakes in Lake Villa, and Sanborn at Lake Zurich. They performed collectively for a season at Wisconsin. And after a profitable Badgers profession, Sanborn additionally went undrafted earlier than signing with the Bears.
“He was one of the first people that texted me,” Sanborn mentioned of Edwards. “Letting me know, ‘It doesn’t matter where you go; it just matters what happens when you get there. And it’s only the beginning.’ ”
Relaying success
When Edwards was in Philadelphia, he figured lots of people from dwelling couldn’t catch each sport he performed.
With the Bears? They’re watching him each weekend, and he feels the help by way of texts from previous academics and coaches.
“I always tell myself, as a 10-year-old kid I would be absolutely ecstatic about where I’m at playing for the Bears,” Edwards mentioned.
Edwards has spoken over the past yr about assembly Brian Urlacher as a child and cheering for Devin Hester within the Super Bowl and having fun with his mother’s large meals spreads on Bears-Packers Sundays.
So because the Bears put collectively their first two-game profitable streak since 2021, he in fact understands what it could imply to the group and their followers to have among the success the Eagles have had over the past a number of years.
His efforts to cross on their tradition have centered totally on preparation.
“I’m not a huge rah-rah guy, not going to get up and start screaming,” Edwards mentioned. “I’ll leave that for someone else. I kind of just like to lead by example. I have the same routine every day. So it’s just talking to the younger guys about what they’re doing for their bodies, what they’re doing for film study, things like that. I’m just going about my business the way I was molded to.”
Bears teammates have famous that strategy.
“He makes no excuses, just keeps his head down,” Brisker mentioned. “The way he comes in every day, he makes sure he’s studying, makes sure he’s on his details in case the next man might overstep him.”
Edmunds additionally got here from a profitable Buffalo Bills group, and Borgonzi thinks the arrogance of Edmunds and Edwards and their expectation to win each sport has spilled over to teammates.
Edwards mentioned he hasn’t wanted that a lot of a mindset adjustment going from the Eagles to the Bears, and that’s a praise to his present group because the Bears attempt to present their turnaround is respectable. The Eagles had been an older unit with extra gamers who had skilled success on the highest degree.
“But honestly, coming here, there was that same type of hunger, same type of professionalism, same type of guys just wanting to get more,” Edwards mentioned. “Anytime you have that in any locker room, you’re going to be successful, and that’s definitely the type of group we have here.”
For Edwards, that starvation and that drive have been an enormous a part of his NFL rise.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com