Dexter Lawrence got paid prior to last season and rewarded the Giants with his second straight Pro Bowl nod and Second Team All-Pro honor, and his next mission is maybe one of his biggest motivators: a joint practice and then preseason game with the Jets, the cross-stadium rival who he, last season, had 15 QB pressures, tying the record for the most in a single game by an interior defender.
“We ain’t gonna dodge any smoke, but you know, we’re there to get our work in and get out,” Lawrence laughed when asked by Evan and Tiki about the joint practice and the possibility of it getting chippy.
But after that comes Week 1, and the start of a pivotal season for a Giants team that took a big step backwards in 2023 after making the playoffs in Brian Daboll’s maiden 2022 voyage.
“This camp has been really promising, guys just coming out here and working and competing and just showing up on tape consistently, and I think that's the key to everything is just being consistent every day,” Lawrence said. “(The new defense) gives the guys up front the keys, and that's what we want. They say is starts with us and this defense actually gives it to us, and that's what we like.”
The pass rush being the identity of the team is how Evan thinks the Giants can get back to the playoffs, and with Brian Burns added to Lawrence and Kayvon Thibodeaux, perhaps the sky is the limit under new DC Shane Bowen.
“That’s how we walk around every day, and it starts with your confidence and your understanding and just knowing who you are and what your team needs from you,” Lawrence said. “Wink and Shane have their similarities, but it’s aggressive by player, not by call, so it’s about accountability from room to room. We all know how to play football, we all know where we're supposed to be and how we're supposed to fit things. and you got to take that seriously from the walkthroughs. You start getting more run looks in camp, so you take every moment and fit it on the field and in the film room.”
This defense is ‘the closest we’ve been since I’ve been here’ with full accountability, which Lawrence attributes to leadership – himself included.
“We all got together and discussed what we want and understand how to go get it,” he said. “I’m not a rah-rah guy, I’m an example guy; I know how to connect with people, and I think that's one of my skills. I know how to get them to do what I need them to do as a player and on the field.”
Leadership and communication are paramount and the Giants seem to have that, all the way down to the rookies, but it all comes down to performance – something Lawrence knows for sure after playing for, and then on, his new deal.
“Every year, I’m trying to grow in my knowledge of my position and what the O-line is trying to do to me, so all my thought goes to that,” Lawrence said. “I don't really value myself by how much money I make or how much I should be getting, it’s more how consistent I could be every day, and show up and just have fun. My pressure is, can I be better than last year?”