Don’t tell defensive line coach that Dexter Lawrence isn’t playing this season like the dominant defensive tackle the New York Giants have become accustomed to seeing.
Told on Friday by a media member that Lawrence probably isn’t playing up the level he is used to, Patterson shook his head vigorously.
“I wouldn’t agree with that statement at all. At all,” he said.
It is absolutely accurate that Lawrence’s statistical production is not matching what he has done the past three seasons, when Lawrence totaled 21 sacks, 65 quarterback hits, and 22 tackles for loss while making the Pro Bowl three straight times and twice being a second-team All-Pro.
After getting nine sacks, 16 quarterback hits and eight tackles for loss in 12 games a season ago, Lawrence is still looking for his first sack, has just two quarterback hits and a single tackle for loss.
Patterson doesn’t care about the numbers.
“Call our opponents,” Patterson said. “Call everybody we play and ask them if Dexter Lawrence is still playing like Dexter Lawrence.
“There’s no other d-lineman in this league that gets as many double teams as he does. Not even close.”
Patterson pointed out that Lawrence even gets double teams on passing down, unheard of for nose tackles who are usually on the sidelines in pass rush situations.
Per Pro Football Focus, Lawrence is the fourth-most double-teamed defensive lineman in the NFL on pass-rush attempts. He has faced double teams 71.51% of the time and triple teams 6.99%. That is 78.5% of his 186 pass-rush snaps facing multiple blockers. Overall numbers could not be found.
“The reason that Burnsie [Brian Burns] is getting the production he’s getting, that 51 [Abdul Carter] is getting the production he’s getting is because they’re putting two dudes on Dex,” Patterson said. “So, we’ve got two guys getting one-on-ones because they’re putting two guys on Dex.
“As a football player, what he does on Sundays, he’s playing like Dex. I get it, people don’t see the sacks that he had last year and think ‘oh, he’s not playing up to his standard because he’s not getting sacks’ No. He’s not getting sacks because he’s getting doubled all the time and he may get three one-on-ones through the course of a whole game.”
Patterson believes “the sacks will come,” in no small part due to the idea that teams will at some point begin shifting more double teams toward Burns and Carter.
“For me to stand here and say Dexter Lawrence is not playing like an elite d-tackle in this league, that’s a big time misnomer,” Patterson said. “He helps our defense because of his presence, and what the offense has to do to handle him, and it helps the other guys on our defense be successful.”
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