Christian Parker Points to Issue Malachi Lawrence Suffered From in Rough Cowboys Debut

Malachi Lawrence had a rough debut for the Dallas Cowboys but Christian Parker has identified what he needs to do to change things.

Dallas Cowboys linebacker Malachi Lawrence (57) during the first half against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker has some sound advice for rookie edge rusher Malachi Lawrence.

One of the worst things a player can do is think too much. That's not to say thinking is bad, but coaches want players going off instinct more than anything else.

And that's basically the gist of the advice Parker has for the rookie, who he wants to see "just go" as opposed to overthinking, an issue Parker sees with Lawrence early on in his career.

"We had this conversation yesterday. Man, just go. Young players have success when they just go. Make your mistakes on the run," Parker said, per Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

"His mistakes were on me. They belong to me. We want him to just go and play fast. When he does that and he has a clear mind, he's just going and punching the clock, it looks really good. When he's thinking too much and you can tell by his feet being hesitant, that's when you have issues. I think for him and any young player, it's just playing fast and going, being unapologetic about your play style, and let me make the mistakes," Parker added.

Lawrence did tally five tackles and one pressure, along with a respectable 64.5 pass-rush grade in his debut, according to Pro Football Focus.

However, the rookie also posted the fourth-worst overall grade on defense (34.8), the third-worst run defense grade (34.8) and the worst tackling grade (26.4) among Cowboys defenders on the strength of a 28.6% missed tackle rate.

Of all qualified rookie edge rushers, that overall grade from the UCF product was the worst in Week 1, PFF's Dalton Wasserman wrote.

We saw a potential example of Lawrence overthinking against the Giants, when he lost contain on a pair of read-option plays during the contest.

Too early to panic

Dallas Cowboys linebacker Malachi Lawrence (57) goes through a drill during practice at the Ford Center at the Star Training Facility in Frisco, Texas. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

While all of that sounds awful, it is far too early to be worried.

Yes, the difference between what we saw from another rookie, Caleb Downs, and Lawrence was night and day in their first contests.

However, we already knew that Downs was a far more polished product coming out of college than Lawrence, who was always expected to need more time to develop before he would hit his ceiling in the NFL.

We saw evidence of this during the offseason, when Lawrence didn't make much noise at training camp or in the preseason.

The good news is, the Cowboys should have enough help along the edge to not have this impact their defense all that much.

In the meantime, the Cowboys might want to consider divvying up some of the 30 snaps Lawrence saw in Week 1 to other edge rushers who can better help this ailing defense right now as Lawrence continues to figure thing out.

— Sign up for the Cowboys Daily Digest newsletter for more free coverage from Dallas Cowboys on SI —