Eli Manning did his best Kyler Murray imitation for the defense earlier this week, and you can imagine how that looked.
“He pulled the ball one time Monday, tried to take off and run,” free safety Antoine Bethea recalled, “so the guys were giving him a hard time. I’m just sitting back there laughing.”
There will be no laughing on Sunday against the Cardinals … not even on those occasions when Dexter Lawrence is one of the Giants trying to chase down Murray — the equivalent of refrigerator on wheels motoring after a cheetah.
“In my mind, I could chase anybody,” Lawrence told The Post. “Just let my play do the talking, and if I catch you, I catch you. If I don’t, I’m gonna get you next time.”
His teammates call him Big Dex, their baby-faced strongman who is much more mobile and agile than any 6-foot-5, 342-pound man is supposed to be.
The “Can Big Dex chase down Kyler Murray?” question draws a smile from his fellow defenders.
“We’re gonna find out. Definitely think he can get him,” fellow rookie Oshane Ximines told The Post. “If you’re trying to look downfield and you’re kinda sleeping on Big Dex ’cause he’s big, I feel like he could get there.”
Murray is a little man who moves like a little man, and there will undoubtedly be occasions when it will make sense for defensive coordinator James Bettcher to spy on him.
But can Big Dex chase down Kyler Murray?
“I think so,” Lorenzo Carter told The Post. “He’s a big man that can move. The quarterback’s real quick, but I think Dex has a chance.”
Murray has rushed 39 times for 238 yards — 6.1 yards per carry — and two touchdowns. Can Big Dex chase down Kyler Murray.
“We will see. We will see,” Bethea said. “It’s one of those things that you’re faster when you’re chasing somebody. He definitely has a good possibility.”
Such widespread belief in their precocious rookie is testament to Lawrence’s drive and commitment to excellence.
“I just try to force myself not to be one of those just big, lazy guys,” Big Dex said. “You can’t coach effort, you can’t coach like athletic ability. If you got it, you got it. So I just take advantage of everything God has blessed me with and use it to the fullest.”
God has mostly blessed Big Dex with a rare ability to be Big Wrecks … even against double-teams.
“It’s not my goal to make somebody scared of me,” he said. “I’m just out there doing my job, playing with a little edge, playing with a little fire. And if they get intimidated by that, I mean, that’s what happens.”
Big Dex has studied the likes of Fletcher Cox, Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph. Jon Halapio has likened him to Cox. Bethea compares him to Booger McFarland.
“He pops off the tape the way he runs, the way he retraces when the ball’s on the perimeter and runs guys down, always getting to the ball with the disruption he makes in the backfield,” Michael Thomas said.
Big Dex, with two sacks and 13 pressures, is blowing up the notion that he is merely a two-down run-stuffer.
“I feel I can be elite,” Big Dex said.
You can almost hear GM Dave Gettleman shouting “Good golly, hog mollie” inside the Quest Diagnostics Training Center.
“He’s plugging those A gaps up, man, and he’s making it easier for our backers to get to the ball,” Bethea said. “And even after that, just his pursuit to the ball, the way he runs for a guy his size getting to the ball, he jumps out at you on film.”
Big Dex is Pro Football Focus’ top-graded rookie through six weeks.
“I don’t think there’s many people that are 6-5, 340 and can move as fast as he can, as quick as he can,” Daniel Jones said.
Jones won’t have to worry about Big Dex on Sunday, and neither will Manning. But Kyler Murray sure might.
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