Dexter Lawrence admits it. He has enjoyed the draft process for the most part.
The only negatives have been the questions he has received about his failed drug test prior to the Cotton Bowl for performance enhancing drugs, and the minor quad injury he suffered while running his 40-yard dash in the NFL Scouting Combine.
“It is a business, but it is a business that I want to be a part of,” the former Clemson defensive tackle said Thursday following Clemson’s Pro Day at the Poe Indoor Practice Facility. “I am really active with it. I am talkative and being myself. I am enjoying it right now. I can’t complain to be honest with you.”
Lawrence says every team he has spoken with has asked about the failed PED test, which showed a small trace of a PED called Ostarine in his system. He says he has no issue being asked about it because he has nothing to hide.
He stands by his claim that he unknowingly took Ostarine.
“They talk about it. I just tell them the truth and that is all I can do,” he said. “We just go about our business pretty much.”
Lawrence says no team has asked him a question off guard.
“Everybody just asks me about the little PED stuff, but, you know, it’s whatever,” he said.
On Thursday, the media was asking about Lawrence’s 40-time. At the combine, the 6-foot-4, 342-pound defensive tackle ran a 5.05, which was just under Christian Wilkins’ 5.04. Wilkins is 27 pounds lighter than Lawrence and was not injured at the time.
Neither player ran the 40 on Thursday.
The former Tiger said he injured his quad during the last 10 yards of his 40. He said it made him mad.
“I feel like I had a 4.99 in me,” Lawrence said. “But it happened. It happened for a reason. I don’t really know why yet.”
Lawrence said he was working at 90 percent during Thursday’s workout. He did not participate in any of the running drills—short shuttle, three-cone shuttle or the 60-yard shuttle—but he did work in the defensive line drills, which lasted approximately 20 minutes.
He showed no effects from the injury.
“I gave it my all,” he said. “It was a quick turnaround for me since my leg injury in Indy. I came out probably like ninety-percent. I just went out there and tried to compete.
“I felt like I did everything I needed to do. It was no setback, really. In my mind, I am always trying to go hard so I don’t really think about the injury.”
Lawrence, who was a First-Team All-American in 2018, will continue to train while interviewing and having individual workouts with NFL teams. On Thursday, he spoke with several teams in Clemson, including the Indianapolis Colts.
“It’s kind of like you said, (the draft experience) is both exciting and stressful,” Lawrence said. “The more meetings you have, that is kind of better for you. You kind of embrace that, you don’t get tired of it. It is something that you know you have to do because people don’t know you. They are trying to get to know you. So, you have to prove yourself and show who you are.”
The 2019 NFL Draft will be April 25-27 in Nashville, Tenn.
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