Report Says Mario Edwards Jr. Charged with Assault

Defensive lineman Mario Edwards Jr. has been the surprise Bears contributor this year in the pass rush, and greatly needed because of Robert Quinn's failures.

Now his future is in question after he has been charged with assault over an alleged domestic violence incident which is reported to have occurred on Oct. 17 in Carolina according to TMZ.

In court documents, the woman charges Edwards got violent with her in a hotel room the night before the Bears beat the Carolina Panthers. She said he hit her in the eye with his hand when she took out her phone to record him yelling at her.

She also charges Edwards then grabbed her by the arm and "dragged her to the door of the hotel room" and then struck her in the arm in the hotel hall by an elevator.

TMZ reported she was hospitalized then, and was pregnant at the time of the attack. She said Edwards has a history of violent attacks against her.

TMZ talked to Peter Schaffer, Edwards' agent, and he said Edwards tried to de-escalate a shouting match wiith the woman. She was described as the aggressor in the incident and TMZ said it had a police report listing Edwards as a victim. Police in that report noted filing a report due to a woman hitting a man and scratching his forehead.

Edwards has a career-high four sacks and is second on the team behind Khalil Mack (7 1/2).

In instances of this type, the NFL can intervene with penalties like suspensions for a player, but usually has not done so until it investigates a situation and it is entirely clear what happened.

As an organization, the Bears have been aggressively active against domestic violence after the embarrassment of signing 49ers free agent Ray McDonald in 2015. He had faced domestic violence charges, and then was charged again.

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