New York Giants Pro Bowl defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence, who was recently signed to a four-year, $90 million contract extension, says it’s time for his team to take the ultimate step forward.
The five-year veteran was asked on Thursday at the team’s training camp about his feelings on what the Giants are building here.
“I don’t want to talk about building. It’s more about doing at this point,” he said. “Going into my fifth season, and I hate losing. I don’t really want to talk about building. I want to talk about what we are doing today to get better for tomorrow, and then that day leads into the season. You all can talk about building but our mindset is winning.”
Losing is not something Lawrence did much of until he came to the Giants as the No. 17 overall selection in the 2019 NFL draft. He was a legendary high school star in North Carolina and a two-time national champion at Clemson.
In Lawrence’s first three seasons in East Rutherford, the Giants finished 4-12, 6-10 and 4-13, respectively, until finally turning the tide last year with a 9-7-1 record.
The Giants qualified for the postseason and even won a wild-card contest on the road against the Minnesota Vikings. Those positive vibes were quickly dashed as they were reminded haw far away they actually are from the top after getting crushed by the rival Philadelphia Eagles in the next round.
If the Giants are going to make some noise in the postseason, they will have to fare better against the Eagles and another division rival, the Dallas Cowboys.
Since the beginning of the 2014 season, the Giants have beaten the Eagles just three times in the 19 games they faced them. They are just as inept against Dallas, having just won once in 12 tries since 2017.
Lawrence knows these trends have to change.
“Last year we lost to them both,” he said. “This season is to train, day-by-day to improve. If I’m not making somebody across the ball better than me, then I messed up and I let my team down. It’s all about just progressing each day, each day.
“Those days stack until you build something beautiful, and it shines on Sundays or Mondays or Thursdays, or Saturdays or whenever they want to give us a game.”