Dexter Lawrence II: Giants Lost 2019 Season Provides Lessons for Future

Giants defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence says that rather than focus on the losing season of last year, he views the lost season as one filled with lessons to build on.

Posting a losing season on any level in any sport is enough of a downer as is. But for Giants defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence, who came from a Clemson program that in 2018, won a National Championship to a Giants team that managed just four wins, it's best to focus on the lessons learned rather than the losing itself.

“You got to find the positive in all things and find the light in all things,” Lawrence said on a video conference call with reporters Tuesday. “No one likes (to lose), but you just gotta find a way if you gotta find a way to be better, and that's the focus this year.”

One of the biggest lessons Lawrence believes can be learned from last year’s disappointing Giants campaign is buying in to what the coaches want.

While there was some buy-in last year with what former head coach Pat Shurmur and his staff were teaching, by the end of the year, little fissures were developing that suggested the players were beginning to tune the coaches out.

Last year, some players thought nothing of it to discuss their injuries, a practice widely considered a no-no in NFL locker rooms. But this year, that practice has ceased, with players referring reporters who ask about injuries to head coach Joe Judge.

And while some might think that having players run penalty laps during a practice borders on the tyrannical side, this year’s team seems to be taking that punishment in stride, showing an understanding that paying close attention to the tiniest detail could mean the difference between a win and a loss.

“The way I see it, it just goes with Coach Judge’s philosophy,” offensive lineman Kevin Zeitler said of Judge’s approach to practices. “He said we’re going to be detail-oriented and there will be consequences for our actions that aren’t good for the team. It’s just a way of playing it through, for players and coaches. We all need to get better every day and there are no exceptions.”

“We’re focusing on being a detailed team and holding each other accountable,” said running back Saquon Barkley. “The little things matter and that comes with the territory.”

With such an approach comes risks, especially when the directives are coming from a head coach who is filling the role for the first time at any level.

In 2017, then-head coach Ben McAdoo, who tried to be an authoritarian, found that out the hard way when the losses piled up and players began tuning him out.

Other first-time head coaches around the league have also tried and failed to run a similar approach, such as Eric Mangini in his head coaching tenures with the Jets and the Browns, who like Judge also comes from the Bill Belichick coaching tree.

But one thing Judge could have in his favor is that the Giants have fallen to the bottom of the barrel in recent years, recording just 12 wins in three seasons.

While many of the players are new to the team this year, the stench of losing remains strong in the locker room and is one that Judge and his staff are determined to eradicate. 

And he’s begun doing that by not merely being an authoritarian who barks out orders but who thus far has been going the extra step to communicate with his players why things are done a certain way.