Wisconsin defensive coordinator Dave Aranda had a simple message for his young inside linebackers.

They needed to step up.

More specifically, redshirt freshman linebacker T.J. Edwards needed to step up. After an impressive debut where he recorded 12 total tackles against Alabama, Edwards combined to just 10 tackles over his next three games.

Edwards and fellow freshman inside linebacker Chris Orr continued to struggle over the next two games, especially with stopping runs on the inside.

They needed a wake-up call, and that’s when Aranda stepped in.

“I’d like to be able to see him more productive, and we talked to him about that,” Aranda said in the week leading up to Purdue.

The linebackers took Aranda’s words to heart.

“We took it personal,” Edwards said. “We knew we had to.”

Edwards response? A career day against the Boilermakers where he recorded a career-high 16 tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss and forced a fumble that squandered any chances for Purdue to gain momentum.

Now, six games into his playing career, Edwards is as confident and collected as he has ever been, and he is just showing flashes of how potentially great of a linebacker he can be.

Going into the spring, there were plenty of concerns in regards to who was going to play inside linebacker for the Badgers, as after graduating both Marcus Trotter and Derek Landisch, Wisconsin had a big shoes to fill on the inside.

For Edwards, that presented not only a challenge, but an opportunity to make an impact and prove his worth. He did so in his first action on the field, recording nine tackles and one sack in Wisconsin’s Spring Game.

And from that moment on, Edwards was on the map, and despite everything he did leading up to that, it all started when he was learning under the wings of those before him.

“It started last year, watching those older guys like Trotter and Landisch,” Edwards said. “They bought into it. Those are good players and they like to play fast.”

Though Edwards wanted to play fast like his mentors, the speed of the game took some getting used to.

But for head coach Paul Chryst, Saturday’s meeting with Purdue was the first time he saw Edwards look truly comfortable on the field.

“He looked like he was playing confident and believing what he saw,” Chryst said. “He just looked like he was playing fast and playing the game. I thought he was fun to watch today.”

And judging by Edwards’s team-leading 56 tackles through seven regular season games, the linebacker seems to have adjusted just fine.

“I think for the first game, the speed was really fast,” Edwards said. “But with every couple of games, it started to slow down for me and I started to get more comfortable.”

While the linebacker’s numbers do jump off the page, for Edwards and the entire Badger defense, their production isn’t about filling up the box score.

Rather, it’s about remaining cohesive as a unit and continuing to play together, because as long as that remains as the mindset, the numbers will come along.

For Edwards, that’s made the transition from the sideline to the middle of the action a heck of a lot easier.

“We’re not a big number defense for sure,” Edwards said. “If you mess up, you know the guys in front you have your back; you know the guys behind you have your back. All you can do is have their back. That’s the biggest thing about our defense.”

And it’s working, as Edwards and his fellow linebackers continue to lead a defense that is currently second in the Big Ten in both passing and scoring defense, giving up just 10.8 points per game this season with a redshirt freshman leading the way.

Edwards will be the first to admit that there was some luck involved in getting him to where he is now by being in the right place at the right time, but there is no doubt in his mind that he has earned the role’s taken on; and with that, he thanks those who surround him.

“It’s awesome,” Edwards said. “Being in the role for a couple weeks now, it’s a blessing for sure. I feel a lot more comfortable with the guys, just having good chemistry with the defense.”

All it took for Edwards to break through were some words of criticism from his coach. And now, there’s no looking back for the linebacker.

“I felt like he called us out,” Edwards said. “I’m glad he did.”

So is Aranda.