Lawrence irked over criticism for not talking
Dexter Lawrence did not take any questions in the locker room Sunday night at AT&T Stadium after the Giants were routed 49-17 by the Cowboys. A day later, Lawrence also did not take questions before he opened up a media session with a statement about why he did not speak the previous day. “Let me get this straight,” Lawrence said. “It’s ridiculous to be tweeted about [Sunday] when I am available to you guys every day.”
Lawrence, one of the 10 team captains, received some criticism on social media for not talking after the game. Sunday was his 26th birthday and, he said, he wanted to see members of his family who had traveled to Arlington, Texas, for the game in the limited time allotted before the Giants headed to their charter flight back to New Jersey.
“It had nothing to do with losing to Dallas, nothing to do with frustration, any of that,” Lawrence said of not meeting with the media after the game. “That’s ridiculous for someone to be sensitive because I wanted to go see my family. That’s all I’ve got to say about that. I’ll answer your questions as best as I can, but that’s just ridiculous.”
Lawrence then proceeded to then take questions about the game and the direction of the Giants’ season. As one of the team’s top players, he is also one of the most secure players on the roster, having signed a four-year, $90 million extension that puts him under contract through the 2027 season.
Lawrence had five tackles and two quarterback hits against the Cowboys.
➤ In some ways, Tommy DeVito is part of an NFL trend. He was the 10th different rookie quarterback to start a game this season, the NFL’s highest total since at least 1950. He is the first rookie free-agent quarterback to start a game for the Giants in a non-strike game since 1967, the year the common draft began. DeVito is only the 10th undrafted quarterback to start a game in the NFL since 2010.
➤ The best way to gain credibility is to take care of business in the neighborhood. The Giants are inept when facing the Cowboys and Eagles and thus are non-contenders in the NFC East. For the third straight season, the Giants were swept by the Cowboys in the two-game series. The Giants have lost six straight games and 13 of the last 14 to the Cowboys. It is not much better when going against the Eagles, as the Giants are 3-15 in the past 10 years against the Birds.
“Just getting beat by anybody like that sucks,” Saquon Barkley said. “It’s been tough my six years here going against Dallas and Philly and coming up short and getting our butt whipped against them. If we want to be the team we want to be, those are the teams we have to match up with and win and we haven’t been doing that since I’ve been here and before me.”