‘What happened?’ Clemson’s Dexter Lawrence answers question heard most at NFL Combine
Dexter Lawrence knew the questions were coming, just like he knows there are going to be plenty of drug tests in his future as an NFL player.
“That’s something I know I didn’t do,” the former Clemson lineman said Saturday of the failed drug test that cost him the final two games of his collegiate career. “For something to pop up, like that was really unfortunate. Every time I pee in a cup now I’m thinking, ‘OK, let me pray’ because something stupid like that can happen.”
Lawrence, a 6-foot-4, 342-pound defensive tackle who left Clemson after three seasons, is expected to be a first round selection in April’s NFL Draft, which means he will meet with a lot of teams here at the NFL Combine. All of them have asked him about testing positive for the banned substance ostarine prior to the College Football Playoff, he said.
“What happened? What was the deal?” Lawrence said. “I feel like they know I am not the type of guy to do anything like that. They just wanted to catch up on the facts, that’s all.”
Lawrence gave them the same answers he’s given everyone else.
“Unfortunately, I tested positive for a drug I don’t know how to pronounce,” he said. “I am naturally this big, been this way all my life, there is no need for me to do anything selfish like that. It’s just unfortunate that it happened, and all I can do is be positive about it.”
He does not believe any of the NFL scouts or executives here are skeptical of his answers, he said.
“I still want to know where it came from,” Lawrence said. “It could have been a chemical reaction in my body to eating something, so I still want to know about that.”
Clemson officials have launched an investigation into the matter, they said, but have released no details from it. Lawrence said he has not communicated with the investigators.
“I don’t have an update on it other than (athletics director Dan Radakovich), they’re handling all that stuff, and they’re working through that whole process still, trying to really kind of find out exactly where it came from or is it some type of contaminant or something,” Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said in February. “So there’s a whole process that they’re going through, but at some point there will be some type of closure and appeal and all that. So I don’t know when that’s going to be but I can’t really worry about that right now.”
Lawrence has passed a drug test since leaving Clemson, he said, and he was drug tested at the combine as all prospects are.
“I still believe I should be one of the top guys in the draft,” he said.
Almost everyone believes he will be, and some mock drafts have him going in the top 10. He had 131 tackles, including 18 for-loss in three years with the Tigers and was named All-ACC every season. Lawrence will run his 40-yard dash and participate in position drills here Sunday. On Saturday, he did 36 repetitions on the 225-pound bench press, the highest number among defensive linemen at this year’s event.
“He’s a large human being,” former teammate Christian Wilkins said. “That allows you to do some things pretty easily. It’s just so simple and natural for him. He’s one of the most natural defensive linemen I have been around, just how easy he gets things. You can just talk something through with Dexter and he will get it the first time. And he’s so natural with his hands and technique. It’s really just natural for him.”
How To Watch NFL Combine
The NFL Network will carry player drills live and highlights beginning Friday and continuing through Monday.
Sunday
6 a.m. to 9 a.m. – Review of Saturday workouts
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. – Live coverage of defensive line and linebacker drills
4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. – Highlights and review
Monday
9 a.m. to 7 p.m. – Live coverage of defensive back drills
8 p.m. to 11 p.m. – Highlights and review
This story was originally published March 2, 2019 at 5:21 PM.
