Philadelphia’s leading sports radio station interviewed former Badger linebacker T.J. Edwards yesterday and discussed his upcoming sophomore season.
The #Eagles seem ready to give TJ Edwards a big role on defense next season
Edwards is ready to take advantage of that chance
"It is definitely exciting to have an opportunity in front of me to show what I can do"
My interview with Edwards:https://t.co/2MLp4nci67
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) July 3, 2020
Edwards–a Wisconsin football standout from 2015-2018–made a splash during his rookie season after joining the Eagles as an undrafted free agent, ending the season with a ProFootballFocus grade of 86.6–good for the best on the team at his position.
The former Badger is now slated to start for head coach Doug Pederson’s defensive unit this season after the team said goodbye to both of its starting inside linebackers from 2019.
From what he told 94WIP, he is ready to show what he’s capable of after finishing his college career with 366 total tackles, eight sacks and 10 interceptions.
“It is definitely exciting to have an opportunity in front of me to show what I can do,” Edwards said. “It is encouraging to have guys around me that are all kind of in that same boat.”
This opportunity comes as the result of an impressive late-season stretch at linebacker from Edwards after starting the season as a special teamer.
Here’s what he had to say about what last season’s opportunity means for his game going forward.
“I think it was really big. We had a bunch of veteran guys who were playing really good football, so in practice, those guys were the ones-and-the-twos. So we were getting maybe one-or-two reps a practice, but that is just how it goes in the NFL. You aren’t gonna get those opportunities to show what you can do, so you have to be ready at all times, to make a play or to prove that you know what you are doing and you can play at this level,” Edwards said. “I think just getting in there, it was one of those things where someone went down and I had to go in, and at first it was definitely different being out there on defense and lining up, because I hadn’t done it in a while. But getting out there with contact, striking linemen, really helped my confidence and just in terms of remembering it just football. Just got to keep grinding at that and keep getting better and things will happen.”
Eagles linebacker and former Nebraska Cornhusker safety Nate Gerry also expressed his excitement about what the future holds for the former Badger.
“I think TJ is a really good player. The past three years I’ve been there, I think he for a rookie he was ahead of schedule. He has natural instincts playing linebacker and was coached well at Wisconsin. He is instinctive and also intelligent,” Gerry said. “For him, especially going into year two, being able to figure out the defense more in-depth, that is going to help him quite a bit and he is going to make a lot more plays. I think TJ is a hell of player.”
The NFL season is (currently) slated to begin approximately two months from now and when it does all eyes in Philly will be on Edwards as he looks to become the next in a long line of impressive linebackers to come out of the Wisconsin football program and make waves at the next level.