The Dallas Cowboys are about to give their first-round pick a longer look. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer said Wednesday that rookie edge rusher Malachi Lawrence has earned more playing time, and that change starts Sunday night when Dallas (2-3) visits the Green Bay Packers (3-2) at Lambeau Field.
“He’s played very well,” Schottenheimer said. “I think he’s starting to show the flash and the acceleration and the ability to rush the passer that we knew we were getting when we drafted him. I think he had a very good game against Tampa Bay, and you’ll see him get more opportunities.”
A part-time role so far
Dallas took Lawrence out of UCF with the 23rd pick in the 2026 draft, but it has brought him along slowly. He has played 117 defensive snaps in five games, about 35 percent of the team’s total, with weekly counts of 30, 23, 17, 20 and 27. He has 12 tackles and one sack.
That sack came in the 24-16 home loss to Tampa Bay on October 8, his best game as a pro. It was the first of his career, and it stands out on a defense that has only five sacks as a team. Just two of those have come from an outside linebacker room that added Rashan Gary and Von Miller in the offseason.
Schottenheimer said during training camp that Lawrence faced a steeper learning curve because the scheme he played in college was so different from what Dallas asks of him. Lawrence said this week that the game is starting to make sense.
“I think it’s a sign that I’ve been developing pretty good,” Lawrence said. “Just growing every day, getting one-percent better every day. Even though it sounds cliché, it’s been true. I’m just taking advantage of my opportunities when they’re given. Things are just slowing down. I’m not thinking as much, and that’s really it. Just getting off, playing faster and reading my keys.”
‘We just got to finish’
Lawrence’s bigger role is one of several personnel changes Dallas plans for Week 6. Schottenheimer would not name the others. “There’s a number of them that you guys will figure out in tracking things,” he said. “Just because of the competitive disadvantage going into a game against an opponent like Green Bay, I won’t get into specifics.”
Lawrence said the message to the pass rushers in meetings and on the practice field this week has been simple. “Knowing how to win the rush, we’ve been close so many times,” he said. “We just got to finish. That’s been the emphasis, finishing those sacks. We got to make 100-percent of the plays we’re supposed to make.”
The Cowboys and Packers kick off at 8:20 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 18, which is 3:20 a.m. Monday in Cairo.
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