Carl Lawson is set to face off against his former team, the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday in Week 3, but the New York Jets pass rusher insists he's not more amped up.Â
"Honestly, it's no different," Lawson said via the team's official website. "It's not another game, all games are important. But no different for me."
After four seasons in Cincinnati, Lawson signed a big-money deal in New York in 2021 but missed all of the campaign with an Achilles injury. The edge rusher earned his first half-sack of the season last week in the epic comeback against Cincinnati.
With the Bengals struggling to protect Joe Burrow through two weeks -- 13 sacks allowed -- Lawson and his pass-rush mates will play a pivotal role in Sunday's outcome at MetLife Stadium.
Despite changes to their offensive line, Cincy became the 21st team to allow 13 sacks over their first two games since 1970, per NFL Research (one of the previous 20 finished with a winning record, the 1998 Buffalo Bills at 10-6).
Last week, Micah Parsons and the Cowboys' defensive front dominated the game, keeping Burrow and the high-flying Bengals offense under wraps most of the contest.
But Lawson doesn't believe the Bengals' O-line is a turnstile that he'll just waltz through Sunday afternoon.
"I do see a lot as far as the offensive line," he said, "but I do think there's a lot of factors as far as not everybody being on the same page. If you watch the film and dive deeper into it, you can see some things that aren't strictly on their offensive line. And I think we've got to go out there and compete. Everybody in the NFL, no matter 13 sacks or not, they're probably saying, 'Hey, we need to do a better job of protecting.'
"So I don't really buy into that. I just control what I can control. What I want to control with this D-line is just going out there and trying to hunt."
To build on their stirring Week 2 win -- and earn their first winning record through three games since 2015 -- Lawson and the Jets need a feeding frenzy in the backfield.
