TJ Edwards embraces high expectations from new Bears DC Dennis Allen

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 16 hours ago

CHICAGO - Going into his third season with the Chicago Bears, linebacker T.J. Edwards is now working with his third defensive coordinator.

However, Dennis Allen has proven himself in the league, and Edwards should play a prominent role in Allen’s defensive scheme this season.

“It’s aggressive (and) there’s also a good amount of thinking too, right? There’s a good lot of processing and being able to have vision at times and also winning your one-on-ones (and) going and attacking downhill, getting the doubles off of the big guys up front so they can go do what they need to do,” Edwards said. “But, again, as we go, we’ll kind of feel like we’ll find our sweet spot for what we’ll be doing and right now, he’s going to throw it all at us to see what we can handle and I appreciate that because that’s what it is in camp. You’re seeing a ton. (At) first, you start off just seeing a whole bunch of things and then towards the end, you can narrow your vision down and so, I think he’s doing a good job of throwing it at us and seeing what sticks.”

In addition to being known for his aggressive defense, Allen is also known for being a tough coach. He has expectations and like head coach Ben Johnson, Allen demands perfection.

That kind of mentality and coaching is something Edwards respects and appreciates.

“I just like his expectations. It’s set from the start. He wants to dictate terms and take his chances and I think as a defense, you love that right? The onus is on the player and now it’s on us to win our matchups and go get it and obviously, he has his wrinkles and things like that. But, we’ll get into X’s and O’s as we go, but I think just mentality-wise and where he’s coming from, you can appreciate it for sure.”

Edwards has played against Johnson’s offense before, including twice last season when Chicago played the Detroit Lions. In the second matchup these teams had against each other, Johnson’s offense put up 34 points which was the second-most points the Bears defense allowed all last year.

Between Allen’s tutelage and Johnson’s expectations for the team as a whole, no one should be putting up 30 plus points against the Bears this year.

“We’re out there competing from the start and I think (when) you get into camp, from what I’ve seen in the past, I love that just from the first play, we’re going. We’re competing (and) we’ll see more and more of how that flow goes,” Edwards said. “But, his expectations are high and that’s what this is. This is the NFL. That’s what it should be. So, he expects a lot from both sides of the ball and special teams as well and we’ll obviously continue to see more of that for sure.”

To compete in the NFL, particularly in the NFC North, where Detroit, the Minnesota Vikings, and Green Bay Packers have a strong running game, stopping the run is essential. Chicago was not able to do that last year. But with the addition of defensive lineman Grady Jarrett in the offseason, it should go a long way to help with that problem.

Jarrett is also a vocal leader who brings a fire to the defense that was potentially lacking that year.

“His vocal leadership has been awesome and again, he’s a guy who’s been doing that since OTAs. He’s been here everyday, locked in, ready to go again, right? (An) older guy, but you can see it when he’s out there. He’s got so much juice in him and he’s just ready to go,” Edwards said. “I feel like the way that he’s going to be that vocal leader and also a guy does it by example for that d-line room. You got a bunch of alphas in that room. So, it’s going to be fun for sure.”