Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II endured the worst statistical season of his career while with the New York Giants before the Giants sent him to the Cincinnati Bengals for the No. 10 selection in the 2026 NFL Draft this past spring.
For a piece published on Monday, Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic shared what fellow Bengals defensive tackle BJ Hill recently had to say to those who may think that Lawrence, 28, is in decline.
Are certain people simply upset that Dexter Lawrence II no longer plays for their favorite club?
“He’s just fine,” Hill said about Lawrence. “That’s just haters talking because they lost their guy.”
When healthy and at his best, Lawrence has been a dominant force and arguably the league’s best interior lineman. The 2019 first-round draft choice is a three-time Pro Bowl selection, but some may say that he hasn’t been the same since he suffered an elbow injury in the fall of 2024.
Most recently, Lawrence finished last season with only half a sack, and some criticized him for “not making a difference” with the 2025 Giants and for not being in his best shape. That didn’t stop the Bengals from acquiring him and then signing him to an extension after he asked the Giants for a trade.
Dexter Lawrence II is no stranger to hearing criticism
Along with Lawrence, fellow defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, defensive end Boye Mafe, safety Kyle Dugger and safety Bryan Cook are among the new members of what looks, on paper, to be an improved defense from the unit that featured for Cincinnati this past January. Meanwhile, Lawrence also delivered a message to so-called “haters” ahead of his first training camp as a member of the Bengals.
“For me, I really feel like it’s been happening my whole life,” Lawrence said about takes that have hovered over him since at least last September. “I’ve been seeing people talk down on me my whole life, or talk bad or whatever. I just know who I am. I know how I approach this game and how I feel about it and my impact on the game, even when it doesn’t show up in the sack numbers. That’s just the way it goes. People want to make themselves feel better by talking down on somebody else. I just continue to be who I am and be Dex, and everything take care of itself.”
If certain whispers are to be believed, how Lawrence and his new teammates play this coming fall could help determine whether or not Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow thinks about possibly leaving the club in early 2027.
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