Giants rely on depth with Leonard Williams sidelined
Leonard Williams of the New York Giants is tended too after an injury against the Carolina Panthers at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Sep. 18, 2022. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Leonard Williams was inactive Monday night against the Cowboys, missing a game because of injury for the first time in his career. He was, however, very present in the thoughts of at least one teammate on the field.
“I feel like I have to play for him this game,” Dexter Lawrence said of Williams, who had played 114 straight games. “It’s just extra motivation that I have.”
The two defensive linemen have forged a tight friendship since Williams arrived via trade from the Jets halfway through Lawrence’s rookie season in 2019. Since then they had started every Giants game next to each other until Monday night.
It was strange for Lawrence not to have Williams next to him but the Giants went into the game believing that his absence would be just the latest in a long line of them which they have so far been able to overcome.
Whether it has been getting by without their top two edge rushers Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari (they returned to action in their season debuts on Monday), losing their starting cornerback Aaron Robinson to an emergency appendectomy shortly after the opener (rookie Cor’Dale Flott has stepped into that job), or adjusting to life without their projected starting inside linebacker Blake Martinez who was released just before the start of the regular season, the Giants have had to rely on depth to get through these first few games.
Surprisingly, that depth has mostly responded.
“The guys that we keep, they are the ones that earn it,” Brian Daboll said of the team’s roster. “Everybody’s got to play at some point. And we’ve all coached guys that are rookies or first-year players. As long as they’re out here competing, doing their job, then you feel comfortable putting them in the game.
“There is strength in numbers.”
The latest reinforcements who stepped in for Williams were veteran Justin Ellis, rookie D.J. Davidson, Nicholas Williams and Henry Mondeaux, who was activated from the practice squad.
“We have a lot of depth and it’s been showing over the first couple of weeks,” Lawrence said. “[Williams) definitely is a key point of the defense, a big captain. We’ve just got to keep going, keep the boat rowing.”
While Lawrence’s relationship with Williams has grown over the years, he and defensive coordinator Wink Martindale have hit it off in short order.
“He’s maybe one of my most favorite players that I’ve ever been around in my life,” Martindale said. “He’s a great guy, first of all, a great person. And he’s a problem. I mean, he is athletic.”
To illustrate that point Martindale has been showing one particular clip from last week’s win over the Panthers.
“I told the whole defense, the play where he chased Baker Mayfield down and got him short of the sticks on that scramble, I don’t know if in my career I’ve ever seen a big man like that make a play like that,” Martindale said of Lawrence stopping the quarterback for a 3-yard gain on a third-and-4 in the first quarter. “That’s the kind of effort and leadership that he brings to the defense.”
“One of my goals is to never let a quarterback outrun me,” Lawrence said. “That’s kind of like a competitive little thing I just have in my head all the time. I was just trying to go get him, really.”
Even at 342 pounds?
“I don’t think it’s crazy,” Lawrence said. “That’s just my little competitive edge. There’s a big second- or third-down play, things like that? That’s just how I keep going.”
Notes & quotes: Kadarius Toney had the best game of his career last year when he faced the Cowboys on Oct. 10, catching 10 passes for 189 yards. He has yet to face them again. The second-year wide receiver was ruled out on Monday with a hamstring injury that began nagging him late last week. It is the eighth game in his short career that he has missed because of injury. He had been listed as “doubtful” on the final injury reports of the week but was unable to heal in time to participate. His absence left the Giants without two of their top projected receivers coming into the season; rookie Wan’Dale Robinson missed a second straight game with a knee injury … Hall of Famers Lawrence Taylor and Michael Strahan were in attendance for the game among the other former players on hand for the Ring of Honor inductions at halftime …Besides Williams and Toney the other Giants inactives because of injury were CB Aaron Robinson, CB Justin Layne, CB Nick McCloud. The only healthy scratch for the Giants was rookie LB Tomon Fox, who had been playing with Thibodeaux and Ojulari sidelined.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
