Bengals rookie on the ‘art’ of sacking a QB

It’s a violent game full of contact, collisions, and pain but Carl Lawson sees football in a much different light.

The Bengals fourth-round draft pick made a name for himself at Auburn as a guy who can get to the quarterback. To some it’s a talent, to Lawson it’s more of an art form.

“It’s a thing of beauty just to watch somebody else on film do something cool,” Lawson said in the Bengals locker room today. “ I study it and I watch it all the time…it’s a beautiful thing.”

Lawson lined up mostly as a defensive end at Auburn, but the Bengals see him as more of a linebacker.

“They want me to play both and this is what they brought me in here to do. I need to be able to learn to do that and do it better than anybody else in the league.”

The Georgia native struggled to stay healthy in college and he anxious to put the injury bug behind him, but back to the “beautiful” part of the game. Lawson says there is more to pressure than meets the eye.

“Rushing the passer is not always about getting sacks,” the rookie said. “It’s being able to affect the quarterback and make him move his feet, make him throw off balance, just anything to disrupt the passing attack. It’s a critical part of the game.”

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