10 things to watch in Giants vs. Jaguars

In a season full of bright spots, Dexter Lawrence’s development has been one of the brightest. The defensive lineman is in his fourth NFL season and has already made a massive jump this year. Through six games, Lawrence has registered four sacks and 10 quarterback hits. The sack total matches his previous career-best mark set in 2020, while the QB hits are one shy of his personal best. As his defensive coordinator told the media Thursday, Lawrence has been a ‘force’ in the middle of the Giants defense.

“He’s the player that we thought he would be,” said Martindale. “He’s using his length. He’s using his power. He’s converting from the run game to pass rush on play-action pass. He’s being the force that we thought he would be.”

In the first three games of the season, Lawrence did not play more than 81 percent of the team’s defensive snaps. However in each of the last three weeks, each of which resulted in Giants victories, the defensive lineman played 90+ percent of defensive snaps. Prior to this season, he had never played 90 percent of snaps in a game. Although Martindale expressed some concern about the increase in playing time, he indicated that it’s hard to take Lawrence off the field when he’s playing at such a high level.

“He’s in great shape right now,” the coordinator said about Lawrence. “It does concern you for the 17-game schedule, so we’re going to try to find spots to spot him some reps. But when he’s playing as well as he is, it’s so hard to –. It’s like if you had a Rolls-Royce, wouldn’t you want to drive it everywhere? It’s just, he’s playing really well. And he wants to go back in. We’re going to try to peel back on some of those reps if we can; it always depends on where we’re at in a game.”

Kayvon Thibodeaux missed the first two games of the season due to a knee injury suffered during the preseason. It took him a little time to get going, but the rookie outside linebacker has shown over the last few games why the Giants took him with the fifth overall pick. Thibodeaux has recorded 11 pressures over the last three games, including the strip-sack of Ravens QB Lamar Jackson that led to the Giants’ game-winning touchdown.

“It’s a blessing,” Thibodeaux said after contributing to last week’s win. “It was the greatest moment. I really sat out there and cried just because the emotion I felt that now, I’m in the NFL. Now that you can really contribute and this is what they pay me to be here for,…