There was a lot of commentary after the New York Giants’ 34-27 overtime loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday about why the defense did not have Pro Bowl nose tackle Dexter Lawrence on the field for Jahmyr Gibbs’ 69-yard game-winning touchdown run.
Interim head coach Mike Kafka revealed after the game that Lawrence was “nicked up” and since it was first down, he was on the bench as part of a time management strategy.
“Dex is battling for us. He had a little nick with his — he got a little nicked for us. So, he was battling. He gave us everything he had for as many plays as we could possibly get him in there,” Kafka said. “But there was a management part of that to make sure we could maximize him in certain situations — third downs, things like that where his pass rush could be in effect. So, he wasn’t out there for that first down.”
Kafka then said that Lawrence would have returned to the game if Gibbs had been stopped and the drive continued.
On Monday, Kafka provided a little more context to the situation.
“The communication was brought up to me,” Kafka told reporters on Monday. “And again, he was a guy that was battling through this game, this injury, and probably just toughed it out for us and was trying to give us everything he had. And so, the decision was just to kind of play him in like those pass situations, second and longs, third and longs, so he can be a factor on a limited snap count.
“I thought that was the right thing to do in handling it, and hats off to Dexter for toughing it out and working through that because he got dinged up pretty well. I mean, this guy was like in tears on the sideline, just wanting to be out there with the players and gave us his all.”
What the exact injury was, or is, was not revealed. Lawrence was not listed on the Giants’ injury report during the week, so whatever happened transpired during the game.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Giants’ Mike Kafka: Teary-eyed Dexter Lawrence wanted to play in OT
Reporting by John Fennelly, Giants Wire / Giants Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
