Edmunds on Dexter: "He was dominant last year. Let's just call it what it is" |
LAKE FOREST, I.L. - When linebacker Tremaine Edmunds first came to the Chicago Bears during free agency in March of 2023, he immediately became a leader on Chicago’s defense.
He is continuing to be a role model on the team and has taken notice of one of Chicago’s draft picks from the 2023 NFL Draft, defensive lineman Gervon Dexter. “I saw it, even last year when he first came in as a rookie. He works extremely hard. Obviously, he got drafted high. But at the same time, you can tell (there’s) a chip on his shoulder and just seeing him take that next step, being dominant like we know he can be. He was dominant last year. Let’s just call it what it is,” Edmunds said. “Even (defensive lineman) Zacch (Pickens), like you said, we have a great group and I know all those guys feed off one another, the way that they practice. Dex, to be so big, he’s always one of the first ones to the ball, running out of the stack. That doesn’t go unnoticed. Everybody in the meeting room sees it and like I said, his work speaks for itself and it’s going to translate over to the field.” There are many reasons talent should translate to the field for the entire team. First, there is talent on both sides of the ball. The Bears had one of the best defenses in the league in the second half of last season. However, they did not have an equal-level offense to go against in practice. At least on paper, that seems to be very different this season with players like receivers Keenan Allen and rookie All-American Rome Odunze as well as rookie Heisman-winning quarterback Caleb Williams. “When you play good-on-good versus one another, it brings out the best in everybody. So, just having the players to the skill level that we have, offense and defense, each day at practice, it’s going to feel like a game and that’s what you want. When you want to be the best, you got to go against the best and just having that competition level day in and day out, you have no choice but to get better and that’s what you want. Being in this league, to be one (of the top) teams, you have to practice that way and by default, you know when you have guys out there on the field that participate at a high level, that’s ultimately going to bring out the competitive nature in everybody,” Edmunds said. “So, it’s going to be fun. It’s been fun. Like I said, it’s not our first time. (Organized team activities) OTAs (were) fun, minicamp was fun. So, we got a feeling of what that felt like and just seeing everybody out there having fun, I think that’s the number one thing and competing at a high level day in and day out, that’s what you live for. That’s what you wake up and want to do day in and day out.” Even with elite players on both sides of the ball, there will always be some difficult times during the season. There are ebbs and flows in the course of a season, as Chicago learned the hard way last season. They reached rock bottom, blowing a franchise record-tying 21-point lead against the Denver Broncos. Chicago had their most dominant win of the season a few days later on Thursday Night Football against the Washington Commanders 40-20. So, Edmunds and the rest of the players returning from last season have a lot of experience in surviving the ups and downs of an NFL season. “Experience is the number one teacher and as of last year, obviously, that was a lot of our first time. We know what that feels like. We know what it feels like to be at the bottom. We know what it feels like to have success,” Edmunds said. “So, it’s really like taking those experiences, taking those lessons and bringing on this year. Definitely exciting and like I said, we’re definitely confident and we know what we have. Now it’s just time to go work.”
