Bills' Lawson on McDermott: 'He Changed Me!'

Buffalo Bills defensive end Shaq Lawson has been on quite the journey throughout his NFL career.

The No. 19 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, Lawson spent the first four years of his career in Buffalo, largely as a rotational piece. After leaving the Bills in 2020, though, he bounced around the league quite a bit. He signed a three-year deal with the Miami Dolphins in free agency, was traded to the Houston Texans a year later, then traded to the New York Jets the same offseason and finally came back to Buffalo last year after the Jets released him.

Through it all, though, Lawson has felt like Buffalo is his true home. A big reason for that sentiment is Bills coach Sean McDermott, whom Lawson credited much of his success to.

“Last year, I tried to get back to being me and Coach McDermott has let me be Shaq – he’s let me be loud, let me talk junk and stuff like that,” Lawson told the Buffalo News. “I didn’t have that in the past. Once I got the confidence last year of him saying, ‘Be you, be yourself,’ that made me even more comfortable here. … I wasn’t a pro at the beginning of my career and once McDermott got here, he changed me and made me the pro I am today.

“I said, ‘Thank you, Coach. You really helped change my career.’”

Lawson is feeling extremely confident heading into his eighth NFL season. He notes how his familiarity with the Bills' system makes it so there is no question about what he can do.

“Fit in? I’m the dog. I’m bringing that juice every day,” Lawson said. “Whatever the coach needs me to do, I’m going to bring it – set the edge, stop the run, take up blocks. That’s where I fit in.”

"I took a minute this year to see what I wanted to do. I said, ‘The Bills know me. They know what type of Shaq they’re going to get.’”

In his return to Buffalo last season, Lawson recorded 31 total tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. He started six of the 15 games he played, and overall had a solid bounce-back season from his time with the Jets a year earlier. 

Lawson has been playing for his NFL future for a few years now, but he chooses to view that as a blessing, not a curse.

“I love that,” Lawson said. “My back is against the wall. I love betting on myself and then coming out here and proving year in and year out that I still got it.”