Dallas Cowboys ‘keeping eye on’ DeMarcus Lawrence knee injury, ailing pass rush
The Dallas Cowboys revealed why defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence was not on the field for much of the second half against the Atlanta Falcons and thus not putting pressure on quarterback Matt Ryan.
Coach Mike McCarthy said Lawrence injured his knee in the first half of the game and the Cowboys limited his play for precautionary reasons.
Lawrence’s status and availability for this week’s game against the Seattle Seahawks is unknown.
Lawrence’s injury doesn’t come close to explain what’s wrong with the team’s ailing pass rush.
The Cowboys have just two sacks through the first two games, one by linebacker/defensive end Aldon Smith in the opener against the Los Angeles Rams and one by defensive end Everson Griffen against the Falcons Sunday.
Lawrence, the team’s highest paid defender who is the second year of a five-year, $105 million contract extension, has just six tackles in two games. He has no quarterbacks hits and no pressures on 46 snaps in the opener and just 28 snaps against the Falcons.
McCarthy blamed it partly on the Cowboys still adjusting to the new scheme on defense under Mike Nolan, but acknowledged the team has work to do to improve the pass rush.
Nolan agreed, saying they haven’t done a good job getting to the quarterback through the first two games for varying reasons.
“Both games have been different,” Nolan said. “The first game we hardly had any pass really opportunity on first or second down. They were primarily on third, and as we’ve learned a couple weeks ago, 14 of those 17 third downs were 2-5 yards, which is not really a big pass-rush down. You’re usually just — you don’t really have your ears pinned back all the way in those situations. So, the first game was not really a good thing. I think we had more opportunity [against the Falcons], so, that was probably a better example. I think overall we have to do a better job coordinating things and obviously that starts from me in that standpoint in a pass-rush situation and making things work and being more effective.”
Nolan refuses to blame Lawrence’s struggles in particular on rushing from the stand up position on the new scheme as opposed to having his hand on the dirt the past few years, including his Pro Bowl campaigns of 2017 and 2018 when he had back-to-back double digit sacks.
Lawrence’s woes actually started last season, as he has just five sacks in his last 18 games.
“I don’t think the two-point has hindered his pass rush ability on pass-rush or regular downs,” Nolan said of Lawrence. “I don’t think he’s any lesser [of a] player in what we’re doing in the pass-rush situations [than] were before. I just think you look at [Everson] Griffen has got a lot of sacks in the past. We’ve got several guys that are used to getting some sacks. So, we’ve got to do a much better job than what we’re currently doing, and not just with D-Law, but other players as well. We need to step up our game in that area.”
The Cowboys need to step up their game starting Sunday because if they couldn’t get to Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff and Ryan they will have a challenge to get a hand on Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson, who is dangerous with his arm and legs.
Wilson has been spectacular in 2020, completing 52 of 63 passes for 610 yards and nine touchdowns in the first two games. He has 68 yards on eight scrambles.
“The challenge this week is that we have a quarterback that’s very mobile, more mobile than the last two we’ve faced,” Nolan said. “And that’ll be a bigger challenge. It won’t always be the pocket, as it’s been these past two weeks, it’s going to be more on the perimeter. So it’ll be a big challenge this week again. That is an area that we’ve got to get better.”
This story was originally published September 22, 2020 at 8:46 AM.
