TJ Edwards is playing the best football of his life. This is obvious to anyone who is paying attention.
Ten weeks into the season, Pro Football Focus ranks him third among all NFL linebackers with an 83.1 grade, up from 66.5 in 2020 and 75.5 last year.
what happened there
We can all see that he is fast, tough, athletic and physical. Then there’s TJ Edwards who isn’t immediately apparent.
His intelligence.
Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon spoke at length Tuesday about what really makes the Eagles’ fourth-year middle linebacker special.
“You know, on our defense, that’s a thinking position, and it’s as smart as they come,” Gannon said. “He has a very good skill set combined with a very good brain and plays very fast.
“You hear the head coach talk about accelerated vision? He’s got it. He’s calling things out before they come, and that’s part of the coaches’ job, with coach (Nick) Rallis, but this is a great study cinematic for him. It’s football 24/7. You have to be like that if you want to be elite in this league.”
Edwards entered the NFL as a long-term undrafted special teamer and has gradually transitioned from situational contributor to breakout star.
He’s gotten better every year he’s been here, but he’s really taken a huge leap this year. After playing 64 percent of the Eagles’ defensive snaps last year in Gannon’s backup rotation, he has played 96 percent this year, which would be the most snaps by any Eagles linebacker since Nigel Bradham played the 97.1 percent of snaps in 2016.
“I used to work for a guy, right now he’s the DB coach in Green Bay, Jerry Gray,” Gannon said. “I’d say, ‘The NFL is an open-book test, and the guys who study harder (are more successful).’ And it goes into what our head coach says, that accelerated vision.
“There are performances you can do when you’re anticipating certain things, but you can only do that with your preparation. That happens six days a week, and TJ takes that into account, and he does it for us and helps a lot other guys on the defense around him because of his brains and his knowledge.”
Edwards was always a brawler. Edwards’ biggest improvement has come in coverage, and the growth he’s shown in that area allows Gannon to keep him on the field all the time.
He has gone from a 63.6 coverage grade in 2020 to 68.9 last year to 77.2 this year, 10th best among all linebackers according to PFF.
Edwards wears the green knit helmet that keeps him in contact with Gannon, and is the defensive coaches’ eyes and ears on the field.
“It goes all the way across the front,” Gannon said. “We do some different things that people don’t do to try to get into advantageous positions, and hopefully we get it going. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but that’s on their plate.
“The mechanics of the back (lineup), which is on his plate, along with the secondary, but he’s tied into all of that. He’s the guy in the middle and he’s the guy that I’m calling on him during the series in the ear because it has the green dot.
“He’s talking to the defense. He’s very stable emotionally, and when the ball breaks, he’s violent, and that’s what you’re looking for.”
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