in 1997, he was limited with injuries, starting 11 out of 13 games at strongside linebacker. he tallied 73 tackles (3 for loss), 2.5 sacks and 5 quarterback hurries. he suffered a sprained left medial collateral ligament against the dallas cowboys, missing 3 contests and seeing limited action in several games the remainder of the season because of the injury. he was able to start the wild card playoff game against the denver broncos, collecting 8 tackles.