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Chicago Bears eye competitive edge over need in NFL Draft | ChicagoLIVE
Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles and assistant GM Jeff King say the team is prioritizing competitiveness and flexibility in the 2026 NFL Draft.
The swing of emotions hit TJ Edwards hard.
At one moment, he was playing in the first Chicago Bears playoff game in five years against the Green Bay Packers. In the next moment, he was done.
Edwards fractured his fibula after getting caught under a Packers' player. The recovery from that injury is about six to eight weeks. Now, he's trying to get back on the field
"When it first initially happened, I just thought I just rolled my ankle and then realized it was not that," Edwards said. "I feel great working really hard every day. I feel like I'm in a really good spot come summertime to be ready to go out there with my teammates and things like that."
But, Edwards can help the Bears in another way as the offseason program continues.
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Edwards' recovery is going well. He said he feels great, and he was walking without a boot.
It has been almost four months since his broken fibula ended his season, but it's a good sign. He spent time rehabbing at Halas Hall, and seeing the players return for the offseason program is always a moment that can lift spirits.
"Right now, just doing what I can to stay in it," Edwards said. "It's great to have everyone back here. There's some cold days in Halas Hall in March when you're doing rehab and stuff. To get everyone back in the building is awesome."
The team that's returning to Halas Hall is different than the one Edwards left on that cold playoff field.
Teammates Tremaine Edmunds, Kevin Byard, Jaquan Brisker and Nahshon Wright are gone. He'll now share a locker room with Devin Bush, Cam Lewis, Coby Bryant and Neville Gallimore, plus any potential draft picks.
Edwards is familiar with some of these players. Bush was a linebacker at Michigan when Edwards was at Wisconsin.
"A Big Ten linebacker, so can't go wrong," Edwards said. "Obviously I’ve known of him for a long time, same class and all that. He just went like seven rounds before me."
It was still tough for Edwards to swallow, seeing his friends leave.
"Guys that I really built connections with and were really big leaders for this team," Edwards said about the departed defenders. "Tremaine and I came in together and really formed a really good bond together. But again, that's the nature of the beast. You just really don't know how it's going to shape out."
2026 NFL Draft: Chicago Bears eye one specific trait in a draft where they're 'ready for anything'
Jeff King and general manager Ryan Poles discussed the draft with reporters, where they made it clear the Bears are looking for a specific trait all weekend and have a plan for addressing positins of need.
What's next:
But, Edwards can have a hand in how it all shapes out.
One of the biggest reasons the Bears were close in the 2025 season was because of how the team came together and spent time together.
Off the field and out of the locker room, they shared time, shared meals and shared families. Bears general manager Ryan Poles said coach Ben Johnson touched on this as the team returned to Halas Hall.
"The thing that coach hit the other day in the team meeting was taking the time to bond and come together," Poles said. "Last year, you all heard about how close this team was. It was very intentional. They were intentional about it. They got together. They golfed together. They had barbecues, dinners at the house. We want to encourage that this offseason to continue to build a strong locker room."
Edwards, who grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and has been with the team since 2023, has a chance to be a catalyst for team bonding.
He lamented losing players he was close to. But, he has a chance to spark camaraderie in a locker room that's starting from scratch again.
That locker room has a head coach that wants to take the Bears beyond where they were in 2025.
"I was in here like a month ago just working out and he's talking about teams starting to report and he's looking at me like, ‘I'm getting that itch, we need to get the guys back here.’ I was like, ‘Coach, we’ve got a couple weeks, you're good,'" Edwards said. "He's the guy who wants to work and he doesn't really care much about the past. It's cool obviously, what we did, but what he cares about is correcting what we did wrong so that we can go out there and be better than we were."
Edwards can have a hand in that as a defensive leader who can help build the locker room into a team that can push past where the Bears were in 2025.
"I know with the direction that we're headed, we're adding people who are going to come in and compete and challenge everyone," Edwards said. "I come in every day and just focus on my job and try to be the best teammate I can be and most importantly be best player I can be."