Nobody could accuse NY Giants nose tackle Dexter Lawrence of not caring.
Giants’ interim head coach Mike Kafka revealed on Monday morning that the normally gregarious Lawrence was in tears on the sideline due to the fact that he couldn’t be on the field with his teammates as the game went to overtime.
“I mean,” Kafka said, “this guy was like in tears on the sideline just wanting to be out there with the players and gave us his all.”
“Again, he was a guy that was battling through this game, this injury,” Kafka added. “Just toughed it out for us and was trying to give us everything he had.”
The man known as Sexy Dexy hasn’t been as dominant as we’re used to seeing this year, but he is still a force in the middle of the Giants’ defensive front. A force that was notable for its absence against the Detroit Lions.
That was never more apparent than on the first play of the Giants’ 34-27 loss to the Lions. Lawrence wasn’t on the field when RB Jahmyr Gibbs broke off a 69-yard touchdown run.
Kafka previously said that Lawrence was “nicked”, but told reporters on Monday morning that the big man had in fact been “dinged up pretty well.” That injury, whatever it is, forced the Giants to put Lawrence on a snap count and limit him to being a situational player.
“And so the decision was just to kind of play him in like those past situations,” Kafka said. “second and longs, third and longs, so he can be a factor on the limited snap count.”
Lawrence only played 36 of the Giants’ 68 defensive snaps (53 percent), though definitely had an impact on the snaps in which he played. The Lions only had 31 yards rushing on the plays for which Lawrence was on the field, however he was off the field for each of Gibbs’ long runs. Without Lawrence on the field, Gibbs had carries of 49 yards (tackled by Dane Belton), 49 yards (for a touchdown), and 69 yards (for a touchdown).
The big defensive tackle had to recognize the impact he had on the field, and it’s understandable that he was in tears that he couldn’t help his teammates when they needed him the most.
“I thought that was the right thing to do and handle him,” Kafka said, “and hats off to Dexter for toughing it out and working through that.”
The rest of the defense needed to pick up the slack, but wasn’t able to do so. The Giants have a long week until facing the Patriots on Monday Night Football and then their bye. Hopefully Lawrence will be able to heal up over that time.
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