EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – DeMarcus Lawrence didn't simply talk the talk but he also walked the walk in Week 3, to say the very least. Ahead of the Dallas Cowboys first divisional matchup of the season - a primetime bout with the New York Giants - the All-Pro pass rusher said he was "excited to see Little Eli again", a comparison of Daniel Jones to former Giants quarterback Daniel Jones.
It wasn't long after that social media flooded Lawrence with predictions of him being negated entirely on Monday evening at MetLife Stadium, but his answer wasn't via Twitter replies.
It was instead delivered personally to Jones - on multiple occasions - pulverizing the young QB with three sacks on six pressures … before halftime .. in what became the single most destructive game against the Giants in his NFL career. His previous best against Big Blue was 1.5 sacks and the Cowboys were 6-1 in games against the Giants when he produced at least one, but you can move that ticker to 7-1 and his sack tally against them to 10 in his last 10 matchups against them.
And this was despite having missed most of the third quarter on Monday with a possible injury.
"It feels great," said Lawrence after the 23-16 victory. "All glory to God. The first two games didn't go as I planned. I had to keep fighting - to go out each and every day to get sacks. They just come in bunches.
"All glory to God."
Lawrence left the contest with roughly 10 minutes remaining in the third session after going down with what was labeled a possible foot injury, evaluated in the blue medical tent before heading to the locker room for further tests by the Cowboys training staff. He'd return in the fourth quarter and while he didn't log another sack his number of pressures continued moving north, and he'd also finish with six tackles on the evening.
As for his foot, Lawrence noted with a sizable smile that his foot is "solid" and describes the extended absence as nothing more than precaution.
"I'm OK," he said. "The body should be hurting after a tough fight and win like that. I'll be alright. It was just a little soreness.
"'I'll be back out there next week."
Heading into the Week 3 contest with the Giants it was Micah Parsons leading the team in the sack category with four, and it took only one game for Lawrence to climb within just one sack of tying him heading into the coming Week 4 matchup against the visiting Washington Commanders.
Parsons wasn't able to add to his sack tally against the Giants, but both will lead a Cowboys defense (1st in the NFL in sacks produced) against a Washington rival that allowed eight sacks on Carson Wentz on Sunday. And considering Dallas pressured Jones a career-high 20+ times on Monday, it stands to reason the defense can keep the good times rolling in Wentz's backfield six days from now.
And, according to Lawrence, the running bet he has with Parsons for who'll finish with the most sacks on the team in 2022 is alive and kicking; and he feels he'll leapfrog the reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year into the lead seat next weekend.
"Most definitely," said Lawrence. "Most definitely."
