FRISCO, Texas — DeMarcus Lawrence continues to send Father Time straight to voicemail, the 32-year-old still being years away from being viewed on the wrong side of the age spectrum in the NFL, certainly, but still performing better than many that are 10 years his junior; and his outing in Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns serves as a colorful reminder.
The four-time Pro Bowler — his latest nods arriving in 2022 and 2023 — finished the contest having taken down Deshaun Watson with two sacks and eight pressures, the latter being second only to Micah Parsons (9).
He received the game ball for that performance.
"All glory to God, man, for my Lord and Savior Jesus to be in my corner, keep his hand on me, protect me while I'm out there keeping me young," said Lawrence heading into the Week 2 matchup against the New Orleans Saints. "And also to my parents. They made some hell of a genes, so shout out to them, too."
The defense was not simply flying around in its first game with Mike Zimmer back at the helm, but it was also making things it once struggled against — e.g., mobile quarterback, opposing rushing attack — look fairly effortless.
Watson and the Browns, which includes Amari Cooper, Jerry Jeudy, Elijah Moore and David Njoku, were effectively shut down for the majority of four quarter in the 33-17 rout that was far more decisive than the final score would have you believe.
Still, Lawrence says there are levels to what Zimmer's defense will look like going forward, and Week 1 was nothing more than Level 1.
"Oh, we definitely [have] a different level we can actually go," said the former All-Pro. "It's our first time playing under Zim's system. We've got awesome talent out there, first time playing together. So as we go along I feel like we'll knock out the [wrinkles] and get it all straightened out. … If all 11 of us do our job and we're on the same page, we should have a good down.
"So just being accountable to each other, being accountable to the system, accountable to the team, and handling your business.
One key reason for the instant defensive success is the much-improved play at linebacker, led by Eric Kendricks and DeMarvion Overshown; and Lawrence has nothing but high marks for the former in the way he's also helped the unit quickly acclimate to Zimmer's system and playbook as the green dot on defense.
"He played with [Zimmer] over in Minnesota and they connected well, and now that he's here," Lawrence explained. "He's actually helping us get better in the defense — telling us the do's and the don'ts and helping us on the back end. Telling us how we can be on the same page from the front to the back end.
"It's all going well."
The mission now is to remain rooted in the moment and build upon the success in the regular season opener when the home opener against Derek Carr and the very capable Saints' offense steps foot onto the turf at AT&T Stadium on Sunday, Sept. 15.
For Lawrence, it's all about leaving everything on the field, every rep, every week.
"Yeah, I mean that's the way I play the game," he said. "I don't want [any]body to ever say they turned on the TV and DeMarcus Lawrence wasn't who he is. So being able to come out of practice playing like that, but also transition and taking it into game time, that's what you want."
That's not only what the Cowboys want, it's what they need. And it's not only what Zimmer needs, it's what he demands: excellence.
So far, so good.
