Giants DL Dexter Lawrence: We Played Soft vs. Bucs

Defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence's frustration is at an all-time high as the New York Giants' losses keep piling up.

New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II . / Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

East Rutherford, N.J. - The last thing anyone in the New York Giants locker room wants to see is for interior defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence II to be angry.

Yet angry and frustrated are probably good adjectives to use in describing the defensive lineman’s demeanor after the Giants were schooled by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the tune of 30-7 in their first game following the release of quarterback Daniel Jones. 

“We played soft and they beat the (crap) out of us today,” Lawrence said at his locker.  

Soft?

“Yeah, we missed a lot of tackles, we didn't contain (Bucs quarterback) Baker (Mayfield) well on scrambles, and we didn't cover well,” he said, adding, “That’s soft to me.”

To Lawrence’s point, the Giants defense missed ten tackles, according to preliminary data from Pro Football Focus.

At times, it looked as though the players, who were coming off an emotionally charged week that began with the benching of former starting quarterback Daniel Jones and ended with Jones’s release on Saturday, were just going through the motions as they had zero answers for what the Bucs were doing to them.

The game was over by halftime after the Bucs took a 23-0 lead, scoring on four of their first five possessions. 

Mayfield finished the game 24 of 30 for 294 yards, but the Bucs' running game, which rushed for 156 yards on 32 carries, did most of the scoring, with each of Bucky Irving, Mayfield, Raschaad White, and Sean Tucker recording a touchdown. 

Like head coach Brian Daboll and other teammates who spoke to the media postgame, Lawrence insisted that it wasn’t so much a lack of effort. He added that despite the aforementioned circumstances, the team had a good week of practice. He then added that the team supported Tommy DeVito, who finished 21 of 31 for 189 yards and absorbed four sacks in his first start this year.

“I don't think we lacked effort,” Lawrence said. “I think we are just not doing well tackling and covering on defense.

“I thought we practiced well–that was my message at halftime. We practice too hard and too good to go out there and play like that.” 

Lawrence was asked if, with six games left, could he see things getting better for a Giants team that has now lost six in a row and seemingly has no end in sight to the bad football. 

“I think it can always get better,” he said. “Right now it's a long process, and I'm here for it. I'm going to keep leading, doing all I can on the field to lead and talking to the guys I need to talk to on the defense, the offense–whoever.”

Lawrence hesitated when asked if he thought everyone in the locker room was bought into the program.

“I think so. Like I said, I don't see a lack of effort. I don't see selfishness. Just gotta execute better. We gotta tackle better. We gotta cover better. We got to be mentally locked in on whatever is being called out there. 

“It's just the little that keeps popping up from one player after another player, after another player. … I think our mindset is we want to win; we just gotta execute better.”

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