Dexter Lawrence skipping press time after Giants loss is an awful look

New York Giants defensive end Dexter Lawrence elected not to speak to media after his offsides penalty cost the Giants the win against Washington. 

Sometimes, a win or loss comes down to a single play — and in the unfortunate case of Giants defensive end Dexter Lawrence, that play was on him.

When Washington Football Team kicker Dustin Hopkins missed the game-winning field goal, referees called a flag on Lawrence for jumping offsides, thus invalidating the missed kick. Hopkins got a do-over, WFT took home their first win, and Giants fans were flabbergasted.

Lawrence declined to speak to media following the painful loss, a move that demonstrated a lack of accountability, says FanSided’s Matt Lombardo.

Dexter Lawrence skips press time in a bad look after Giants loss

The debate over whether athletes should have to address media has long been a conversation, but Marshawn Lynch’s famous Super Bowl stunt stunned the media landscape when he thoroughly refused to answer questions.

Bill Belichick has made the evasive presser an art form, but he’s still shown up to every one, if not to just watch journalists squirm as they attempt to get an answer from him.

Whether an athlete should attend at all is something Naomi Osaka did this year before the French Open — and she was fined $15,000 for refusing to speak with journalists.

While Lawrence won’t be fined following the loss, an unwillingness to face the world after a costly mistake in the game could communicate a player’s lacking leadership. The mentality that is preached widely in the football world is that a leader will step up and admit to mistakes.

But Lawrence didn’t even make a mistake here. The offsides call was, in fact, erroneous, according to Sports Illustrated writer Alex Wilson.

https://twitter.com/AlexWilsonESM/status/1438915840930455552?s=20

What looked like an offsides jump was actually the perfect snap. Instead of getting praised for a perfect game, Lawrence paid the price for what was believed to be a mistake.

Whether Lawrence knew he was in the right or simply didn’t want to deal with the media circus afterwards remains unknown — after all, he didn’t show up to the presser.