Carl Lawson has dominated at Jets training camp so far, recording six sacks in two practices this week during 11-on-11 drills.
His overwhelming strength has opened eyes and drawn high praise from head coach Robert Saleh, who loves what he is seeing so far from the first-year Jet.
“If you watch the tape, he beats everybody, so it’s not foreign to him to win,” Saleh said on Tuesday. “What’s cool though is his work ethic and the way he goes about his day-to-day process: He is relentless with his body. There’s an old saying that hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard, but, this dude, not only is he talented, but he works his absolute butt off. And because of it, you see results.”
Asked what he believes is behind his success, Lawson gave a much simpler response: he’s just stronger than everybody, which helps him use his arms to drive the offensive line into the backfield and create disruption.
“Leverage, hand placement, and angles, and overall just being strong as s--t,” Lawson said. “Not many people can do it.”
It’s Lawson’s strength and work ethic that led to New York signing the defensive end to a three-year, $45 million deal this past offseason, a move that many considered a big risk. Lawson, in four seasons with the Bengals, logged 20 sacks and 19 tackles for a loss, while 11 of his 14 career starts came in this past season alone.
But Lawson feels he has begun to master his moves at the line of scrimmage, and believes he will torment opposing backfields throughout his debut season with Gang Green.
“Things that I’ve seen on film from all the way from college to when I play in the NFL, I’m able to execute on command instead of like ‘How did I do that? How did I get my body to do that?’ Now I’m just like ‘I know how to get my body to that,’” Lawson said. “It’s kind of like Neo in ‘The Matrix’. That next move, he’s just doing it. That’s kind of what I’m getting to as a player.”
Muscle memory will be a big emphasis for Lawson this coming season, and he will be out to prove that he was worth his big contract, and that he is the strongest man on the field.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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