A lawsuit against the Bears and defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. stemming from an alleged assault during a Bears road game in 2020 has been voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff, a Sun-Times source has confirmed.
Edwards was charged with misdemeanor assault after an incident with a woman at the Bears’ hotel on Oct. 17, 2020, the night before the Bears played the Panthers in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Joann Blakney, who had a previous relationship with Edwards, filed a lawsuit in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, in October 2021, accusing Edwards of “assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress” as a result of an argument with Edwards in his hotel room. The suit also accused the Bears of “negligent supervision and defamation.”
The NFL did not punish Edwards after conducting a personal-conduct investigation of the incident. Through his agent, Peter Schaffer, Edwards has denied the charges, though Schaffer has acknowledged there was a verbal argument between Edwards and Blakney in the hotel room.
Edwards, 28, is in his third season with the Bears. He signed a three-year, $11.5 million extension in March 2021 after getting four sacks in 15 games in 2020. Edwards had two sacks in 12 games last season after serving a two-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.
