Yes and no. The 21-year-old Edmunds appeared to have Gronkowski stopped just short of a first down in the fourth quarter on Dec. 16 only to have Gronkowski extend his 6-foot-7 frame past the marker. Edmunds, giving away 6 inches and a good 50 pounds to Gronkowski, didnβt mope or waste a second trying to shake the cobwebs out. He went right back to work. Itβs kind of his thing.
Not bad considering he tore the labrum in his shoulder late in his final season at Virginia Tech. He was worried it would hinder his progress.
Hardly. A full 19 games (including preseason) into his first year as a professional, Edmunds β voted the teamβs Rookie of the Year on Wednesday β looks just as fresh as he did when he arrived in town in early May.
βHeβs durable,β safety Sean Davis, named Rookie of the Year in 2016, said. βHe hasnβt missed. We ask him to do a lot. He does it. He does a good job with it. Heβs picking the game up well.β
Edmunds didnβt really have a choice. The Steelers signed veteran Morgan Burnett to a three-year contract in March then drafted Edmunds a month later, figuring they could bring him along slowly. It didnβt exactly turn out that way. Burnett spent most of training camp and much of the early season battling various injuries, forcing Edmunds to take on a starting role immediately.
βWhen I first came in, just going out there, trying to put everything out there show Coach (Mike Tomlin) and (general manager Kevin) Colbert why they drafted me,β Edmunds said. βMy mindset is always to go out there and try to play, whether it was special teams, defense or whatever.β
Maybe itβs because he always felt like he belonged. Edmunds comes from a football family. His father, Ferrell was a Pro Bowl tight end for the Miami Dolphins in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Older brother Trey is both his teammate and his roommate after signing with the Steelers in September and younger brother Tremaine Edmunds is in the midst of his own solid rookie season as a linebacker in Buffalo.
Asked who is having the better year, he or Tremaine, Edmunds just laughed.
βDonβt make me pick,β he said. βWeβre going to go back and forth about it whenever we get home. He had a great year. Iβm coming along better in my year now. Itβs something to build on.β
The Steelers are counting on it. Though Edmunds understands going so high in the draft surprised some, he didnβt take the perceived slight personally. If anything he tuned it out, impressing his teammates with his maturity in the process.
βTo be able to be drafted where he was drafted and to able to absorb things from everybody, taking coaching, not thinking that he knows everything, I think heβs got a very good base foundation,β cornerback Joe Haden said.
One Edmunds hopes heβll get to expand in January. Heβs well aware his teamβs playoff chances are iffy at best following a late swoon thatβs seen the Steelers drop four of five to cede the AFC North lead to the Ravens. Five straight months of playing havenβt exactly worn him down. If anything itβs left him hungry for more.
So much for the dreaded βrookie wall.β Edmunds insists thereβs no secret on why heβs been able to keep going. He just has. Itβs part of the job.
βWe always talk in the (defensive back) room that we canβt let up,β Edmunds said. βPeople are going to make plays in the league because everybody is a pro.β
NOTES: RB James Conner practiced Wednesday and appears close to returning from the sprained left ankle thatβs forced him to miss the past three games. Conner declined to offer an answer when asked if he would play against the Bengals, simply repeating heβs βgetting better and better.β … QB Ben Roethlisberger, WR Antonio Brown and C Maurkice Pouncey were given the day off. … Davis (quadriceps) and LB Vince Williams (toe) did not practice. … Haden received the annual βChief Awardβ given to a player for their cooperation with the media.
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