Giants' Dexter Lawrence isn't satisfied with personal success; he wants to help teammates raise game, too
Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II performs a drill during training camp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center on Tuesday in East Rutherford, N.J. Credit: Corey Sipkin
For Dexter Lawrence, the drive to be the best comes from within.
Clearly the Giants’ standout player, Lawrence has labored alongside his teammates in the heat and humidity of a brutally hot training camp.
At 6-4, 340 pounds, the defensive tackle is a mountain of a man, one who holds himself to a high standard.
“I’m never a perfect player out there, so I’m hard on myself,” Lawrence said Friday at training camp. “Every day I come out here and I mess up on a little thing and I write it down, and I correct it the next day, just so I’m making a new mistake every day type of thing. That’s kind of my thought process.”
Asked for an example, Lawrence said, “It’s more of a technique thing, like getting in a good stance and running off the ball, mentally having that in my head a lot because that’s what makes me successful.”
Lawrence has one wish as training camp continues.
“I don’t want to be at the Pro Bowl by myself,” he said. “The mindset for me is to push everybody.”
Lawrence was a Pro Bowler in each of the last two seasons. He recently was named the No. 24 player on the NFL Top 100 list, as voted on by his peers.
It was the highest ranking for any Giant since Saquon Barkley was No. 16 in 2019. Barkley also was the only teammate at the Pro Bowl with Lawrence in 2022 before the two-time second-team All-Pro Lawrence’s solo trip in 2023.
“You’ve got to keep earning that respect. I think that’s what legends do,” Lawrence said. “At this point, I want to keep earning those respects and keep having people feel my dominance and see the type of player I am.”
In his sixth season, Lawrence seems determined to bring out the best in his teammates.
“I think that’s my role on this team,” he said, “to push everybody.”
His fellow players rave about him.
“It’s amazing,” inside linebacker Bobby Okereke said. “It makes my job a lot easier. He’s taking up two, three guys at a time [on a rush]. So I get to run around and make tackles.”
New Giant Jon Runyan Jr. has battled with Lawrence every day in camp. Runyan said if his hands and his footwork are not perfect, Lawrence will take advantage.
“One of the best D-tackles in the NFL,” Runyan said. “I think he has the capability of being the best of all time. He moves so well for being whatever weight he’s at and how big he is.”
And there’s this from fellow defensive lineman Rakeem Nunez-Roches: “I’m telling you, God must have blinked when he was making me, but he had everybody in the lab with Dex. Extra on the arms, extra on the legs. Don’t forget the speed. Super-powerful. Then he’s extra big.
“Come on, that’s what I’m playing with. It’s just crazy. I take off running, he’s running right beside me. I’m like, there’s no way, there’s no way.”
At some point down the road, Lawrence’s career could move him into the Hall of Fame conversation.
For now, for this season, he has a different objective: to lift his teammates.
One of the players Lawrence could help most is second-year center John Michael Schmitz, but he has been sidelined with the second shoulder injury of his career.
Lawrence said he has given Schmitz pointers.
“I wish he could get out here and practice some more, but obviously he can’t,” Lawrence said. “He asked me, did I miss him? And I said, yeah.”
For Lawrence, there is a different spotlight this season. Gone from the Giants’ roster are Barkley, Sterling Shepard and Xavier McKinney.
There are voids to fill.
And for a Giants fan looking for a jersey to buy, Lawrence’s No. 97 is the obvious choice.
“I wanted to be a household name in college,” the Clemson product said. “You get what you ask for, and I take that with pride. I’d rather be this way than the other way. That’s why I try to set the example. I’m not a real verbal guy, but I lead by actions. That’s just my biggest thing.”
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
