It's All About the Mental for Rashard Lawrence Heading into Year 2

As Cardinals nose tackle Rashard Lawrence gears up for his second season, he believes that to become great in the NFL, you have to put work in on and off the field. 

That starts with the team's four-day break this upcoming weekend, where players won't be required to be at the facility. 

Lawrence says he'll be there anyway. 

"I'll probably be here every day during the break, just keeping the work going. Continuing to recover, and getting ready for game week," Lawrence said. 

"But it is good for older guys that are more experienced and know the ropes. If they want to get out and do things, that's fine, but every player is different. But me personally, I'll be here just getting work."

Lawrence appeared in nine games during the 2020 season. The Cardinals' season came to a dramatic end, one that inspired Lawrence and others to immediately get back to work. 

"That's a credit to (strength coach) Buddy Morris. I think he told us that he could help us take our game to the next level. As a young player in this league, you definitely want to soak in from guys like Buddy," Lawrence said. 

"Me, Zach (Allen), Michael (Dogbe) and Leki (Fotu), we were just getting after it. And we enjoyed it. We didn't have to come in. But we were in here just getting better and doing what we can to make ourselves better players going into this year." 

Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury mentioned Wednesday that Lawrence, along with Allen and Dogbe, has changed his body and is bigger and faster.  

Coming out of LSU, Lawrence says the physical aspect helped him adjust to the league, although he points to the differences of now playing in the NFC West.

"Coming from the SEC, it's definitely ground-and-pound. You're being physical and everything. But especially in our division (NFC West), you have a lot of West Coast offenses, and you have to understand what they like in their schemes and how to play in those positions," Lawrence said. 

"Everybody in the NFL is strong, and talented. But it's more about knowing, 'OK, what is your job? How do I do it? And how can I get better doing what the coaches asked me to do?'"

With offenses such as the 49ers, Seahawks and Rams, there's a lot of creativity, giving the defense a lot to figure out in a small amount of time. Lawrence says it's all about attention to detail. 

"The No. 1 thing is just understand the formations," Lawrence said. 

"Formations in the West Coast offense, there's something that always will give you a tell. So you always want to know that, 'OK, if a tight end's here, or if a running back's over here, what can you get? How can you eliminate all the different things that you can get and make it simple for you?'"

"So it's definitely important to just understand and not just looking at getting down and getting your stance, like you do in college. (Now you are) taking the whole picture and actually saying, 'OK, what's going on right now?'" 

The greatest players on Sundays understand the mental preparation of the game.

Lawrence said that's where he feels like he made his biggest strides heading into Year 2. 

"I think (I'm the same) physically, (I'm) a lot smarter though in understanding of pro football," Lawrence said. 

"Coming in last year, we didn't really have the chance to get the preseason games or get to OTA reps like we would've liked to. But now, having the chance to see different types of offenses in the league and everything, it definitely helps as far as knowing what's coming and also knowing, OK, this is what you can expect expect Sunday after Sunday."

With a loaded defensive line unit, Lawrence's impact has yet to be revealed. Yet it appears when his number is called, Lawrence will be physically and mentally ready for whatever challenge awaits him.