Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor has seen plenty from Dexter Lawrence II this season, but one play from Week 5 still stood out enough to stick in his mind.
Taylor said he’d never watched anything quite like Lawrence’s leap to stop Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis on a first-quarter sneak attempt in Miami. The play came on second-and-goal during the Bengals’ win, and Taylor didn’t hide how much it impressed him.
"That was pretty cool," Taylor told reporters Oct. 12.
"Yeah, I want to freeze-frame that, take a picture of it, blow it up and put it in the room somewhere. ... Because when you see it, I don't know how you guys watch it, but off the tape is, it's like a giant flying squirrel, jumping over the top of the center, which was, it would be terrifying if you were playing quarterback back there.
A squirrel, yeah."
Lawrence has been exactly the kind of problem opposing offenses don’t enjoy dealing with. Through the season so far, he has 14 tackles, nine solo, and three sacks, and he’s routinely drawing extra attention from blockers.
That kind of impact has shown up in the way teams try to handle him. CBS studio analyst and former NFL offensive lineman Kyle Long weighed in during the week on a clip of Steelers offensive lineman Mason McCormick grabbing Lawrence’s leg and lifting it off the ground while trying to contain him in Week 3. Steelers receiver DK Metcalf also yelled at Lawrence after a brief skirmish between the teams.
The Bengals have also leaned into Lawrence’s presence in other ways, sharing video of a miked-up Lawrence during the team’s Week 2 win against Houston. Before the team’s NFL Week 1 game against Tampa Bay at Paycor Stadium, he even did his signature "Sexy Dexy" dance during introductions.
Lawrence arrived in Cincinnati in a trade with the New York Giants for the 10th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. His one-year, $28-million extension with the Bengals also opened up nearly $5M of 2026 cap space, according to Spotrac.
The early impressions around the league have been strong, too. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, in a piece that included opinions from league scouts, executives and coaches on their favorite offseason moves, wrote that one AFC executive thought the Bengals were especially savvy in landing Lawrence from the Giants.
Lawrence’s connection to the Bengals has already included a few memorable firsts. He took part in his first Bengals minicamp and did his first public "Sexy Dexy" dance at the Bengals’ NFL draft party on April 23, four days after walking onto the field at Paycor Stadium for the first time as a Bengal.
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