Start slow, finish fast: It's time for Cowboys DE DeMarcus Lawrence to have a big game - The Dallas Morning News

FRISCO — The week started with Eagles coach Doug Pederson making a guarantee, statement or declaration, depending on your viewpoint, that his team will beat the Cowboys on Sunday night.

DeMarcus Lawrence, the Cowboys representative when it comes to matters such as these, didn’t back down to close the week.

“He got to come here,” the Cowboys defensive end said Friday afternoon. “Tell him to come on. We ready. Can he play the game? So he might want to shut his ass up and stay on the sidelines. He can’t play the game for them. The Eagles got to come play and he supposed to sit on the sideline and do whatever he wants to do. He can’t play the game for them. We’ll see.”

And while Pederson placed his mouth, or his team’s rep on the line, Lawrence has taken center stage here. He’s been under siege most of the season for a slow start, at least statistically, as the Cowboys continue to utilize him in a rotation of linemen.

On the season, Lawrence has played in 62.6 percent of the snaps, that’s down compared to last year when he participated in 71.6 percent of the defensive plays.

Lawrence vows that’s changing.

“You ain’t got to worry about it this week,” Lawrence said of a rotation. “Doug Pederson already called us out. So ya’ll know what it is.”

After that statement, Lawrence dropped the mic, or rather picked up two expensive duffle bags along with a small boom box-like device that holds ice which feeds into a tube connected to a compression sleeve. Lawrence gets treatment for an aching body that needs to get going on Sunday night.

On the season, Lawrence has 2 ½ sacks and six quarterback hurries.

The Cowboys’ pass rush has been just a one-man show thus far: Robert Quinn leads the team with five sacks. For the last two seasons, Lawrence was the leader of this pass rush. He earned Pro Bowl berths the last two seasons with 25 combined sacks. His slow start is indicative of what people are accustomed to seeing. In 2017 Lawrence had 9 ½ sacks and 13 quarterback hits after six weeks. The next season, Lawrence complied 5 ½ sacks and nine quarterback hits when six games were completed.

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The knack against Lawrence was fast starts and slow finishes. Now it’s the opposite and with his team in the middle of a three-game losing streak, it’s probably time for a big game.

“I think it can always get better,” he said. “They try to do their little tricks of the trade and put two guys on me and take one off and chip the other side and slide to me. It’s all about keeping that same approach and fatigue makes cowards out of anybody. So it’s all about really keeping the pressure on us at all times.”

There is tremendous pressure on this game especially for a defense that’s been inconsistent in 2019. Several players noted the defense is not playing up to their high standards and if things are to switch in a positive way, creating turnovers is where it begins.

After leading the NFL with 11 forced turnovers in the preseason, the Cowboys have just five, tied for fifth-fewest in the NFL.

Jason Garrett said turnovers are created with pressure from the defensive line, that’s struggling to get going.

“Everybody knows it ain’t no secret,” defensive tackle Maliek Collins said. “We need to get to the quarterback better as far as getting production based on the quarterback sacks, pressures and more hurries. When we become feared up front, it will help the rest of the defense. When we start our roll with sacks it will be very beneficial to our team as a whole.”

You could say the pressure begins with Lawrence, who commands attention, but given what’s been said this week, he probably needs to back up his boasts much like Pederson.

In nine career games against the Eagles, Lawrence has zero sacks and five quarterback hits. If Lawrence doesn’t have a disruptive game Sunday night and the Cowboys lose going into a bye week, nobody will remember what Pederson said.

People will talk about the Cowboys falling further and further behind their rivals in the NFC East.

“We’ve been through this before,” Lawrence said. “We done seen hell and done dug out of the pits of it. We were 3-5 last year, ya’ll asking these same questions. Like what is it to fear? We all men. We already know what we gotta do and we going to go and show it and prove it.”

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Start slow, finish fast: It's time for Cowboys DE DeMarcus Lawrence to have a big game - The Dallas Morning News
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