When a team is having a bad season the focus usually shifts to how well certain individuals have performed. The Dallas Cowboys have several players that have produced even with the team’s multitude of struggles in 2020. Second-year Safety Donovan Wilson has shown why he’s worthy of being a starter long-term, and rookie Wide Receiver CeeDee Lamb is only slightly off of a 1,000-yard pace despite not having Dak Prescott for the last six games.
Another player that’s picked up his game lately is DeMarcus Lawrence. However, even though he’s seen his production trend upward, that’s not what motivates him as a player, which he expressed to the media last week.
“In all honesty, I don’t feel like I’m doing good unless we’re winning,” Lawrence said, via Jon Machota of The Athletic. “I’m a competitor. I don’t go out there for the glory of stats, I go out there for the glory of wins. If I wanted to worry about my stats, I’d go play tennis.”
Lawrence may not be concerned with stats but he’s been putting up some nice numbers lately. After not recording a sack during the first four games of the season, Lawrence has logged at least a half-sack in five of the last seven games which brings him to 4.5 on the season, just a half-sack from his total in 2019. He’s been one of the highest graded edge rushers all season by Pro Football Focus and last week ESPN Analytics named him one of the best edge rushers when it comes to run-top and pass-rush win rate.
It’s also not surprising why Lawrence isn’t glorifying his play when looking at the status of the team. The Cowboys are only 2-5 during Lawrence’s hot stretch. Although they’ve shown some improvement as a defense, they still rank 23rd (382.0) in yards per game and 32nd in rushing yards (156.4) and points (32.6) per game.
Lawrence just might have a huge performance against the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday, but he’ll be more focused on the Cowboys picking up a much-needed win and keeping pace in the NFC East.
