Bears coach said what fans in Chicago haven't seen with T.J. Edwards

Over the last three seasons with the Chicago Bears, linebacker T.J. Edwards has posted high tackle totals, but that doesn't fully tell the story of a player who has performed well despite far more inconsistency than anything else.

Edwards is entering a critical 2026 season after missing eight games last year to injury, and he might be a candidate to be cut or traded if this year doesn't go well. Bears linebacker coach Richard Smith seemed to tell a different story, though, as he talked about going through last year with Edwards' injury and what he means to the team.

"T.J. is a great man," Smith said via Bears reporter Josh Buckhalter. "I always said if he wasn't married, you'd want him to marry your daughter. He's a great human being, and he's very smart. There's no ego to him. He's confident, he's a great teammate. All those things you'd want, and he's a smart football player. So, once we lost him, what was that like, a hamstring? I think it might have been once or twice in the year; it hurt you. Because he's one of your guys. He is a starter, and once again, he can play all three positions for you. I mean, he's that smart, and he's a good football player. So, once you lose a guy like that, that hurts you, but once again, you got to move on. That's part of the game. Right now, he's working really hard in his rehab, coming along really fine. Our support staff down there, they do a great job with these guys, and he's in every one of them meetings. He's one of the leaders. It does hurt you every time you lose one of your starters, but you hope the backup can come in and perform as well."

T.J. Edwards gets high praise from his coach on the Bears' staff

Edwards had 155 tackles in his first year with the Bears in 2023 and then followed it up with 129 tackles as he played in all 17 games in both seasons. Last year, in just 10 games, he racked up 67 tackles, five pass deflections, three quarterback hits, two tackles for loss, one interception, one touchdown, and a half of a sack. Pro Football Focus graded him out at a 72, ranking 24th out of 88 linebackers.

Tremaine Edmunds is gone from the Bears after being released in the offseason, but Devin Bush got signed to replace him. The Bears also re-signed D'Marco Jackson to be in the linebacker rotation.

Despite some changes at the position, Edwards is seen as the team's top linebacker and one of its leaders. He knows this will be a big year for him to prove that he deserves to stay on the team, even with some ups and downs.

Read more: 3 scenarios that would crush Bears' Super Bowl hopes in 2026

Chicago will need him to play well and step up in a big way in 2026.

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