Edwards not as big, but much better

First impressions don’t mean as much on the football field as they do in other walks of life.

Veterans take stock of the rookies in training camp, and don’t hold back on handing out advice.

“My first impression of Mario was he’s very talented and lazy,” Raiders defensive end Justin Tuck said of Mario Edwards Jr.

Edwards has risen like the sun on the Raiders’ defense, the second-round pick playing for an injured Tuck and flashing his power at both defensive end and tackle.

On Sunday, he helped the Raiders (5-6) hold Tennessee to 7 yards rushing in the first half and 44 for the game, the third time they have held an opponent to less than 50 this season.

“If you’re a Raider fan, you have to be a Mario Edwards fan,” defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. said.

Edwards has the speed to cause trouble and rush the quarterback on the outside and the power to stand up against offensive linemen and running backs inside.

Wherever he lines up, the 6-foot-3, 285-pound lineman packs a wallop, as running backs limping back to the huddle can attest.

An elite athlete since he was once briefly small, Edwards was a receiver at Billy Ryan High in Denton, Texas.

[...] his junior year, when he weighed 260 pounds.

Edwards got as big as 315 pounds — he still could do a standing back-flip, mind you — when his dad got a little louder in his ear.

Mario Edwards Sr., who played cornerback in the NFL from 2000 through ’05, helped coach his son in high school and college and still talks to him every day.

Tuck, who is out for the season with a torn pectoral, has played defensive end and moved inside on passing downs his entire career, and attests that it’s not easy.

Edwards has 35 tackles, 1.5 sacks, two forced fumbles this season and a lot of dirty work that doesn’t show up in the stats.