Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy will make his NFL regular-season debut in the opener. Selected by Minnesota with the 10th pick in the first round of the 2024 draft, he sat out his entire rookie year with a knee injury that required surgery.
McCarthy saw limited action in the preseason, completing 4 of 7 passes for 30 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions and a 67.6 passer rating.
"It's always kind of hard going against a new quarterback because there's not a lot of film out there," Edmunds said. "Going against new quarterbacks, you're going to come across new things, so you have to trust your technique, trust your fundamentals and trust what you are as a defense scheme-wise."
Edmunds understands the importance of making an inexperienced quarterback uncomfortable in the pocket, but the Bears linebacker believes that "you've just got to make sure that you're focusing on yourself."
"At the end of the day, it comes back to, 'What are we doing well as a defense? What are we doing well as a team?' Areas that we know we want to get better with," he said. "It's not more so focusing on him; it's more so focusing on us and making sure that we execute and \[are\] doing the things that we know how to do."