Giants’ Dexter Lawrence will face off against ex-teammate Cade Mays

MUNICH — There will be no introduction needed when Dexter Lawrence lines up at nose tackle Sunday, across from center Cade Mays of the Panthers.

Mays spent a month early this season on the Giants practice squad, meaning he and Lawrence knocked heads a bit on the practice field for three weeks in September and the first week in October.

“I wrote in my notes this week: ‘Respect your opponent and don’t take anything lightly,’ ” Lawrence said. “So my mindset is the same as every week, go out there and try to wreck the game as best as I can and play to the best of my abilities.”

Panthers center Cade Mays squared off against Dexter Lawrence earlier this season when he was a member of the Giants’ practice squad. Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Mays, 25, was a 2022 sixth-round pick of the Panthers out of Tennessee.

In two years, he played in 27 games, with seven starts.

He was released in late August and the Giants picked him up.

After injuries hit the Panthers offensive line, on Oct. 8 they signed him off the Giants practice squad.

An injury to Ikem Ekwonu meant Brady Christensen moved from center to left tackle and Mays filled in at center in last week’s victory over the Saints.

Lawrence is coming off a rare quiet game — six tackles but no sacks or quarterback hits in a 27-22 loss to the Commanders.

Dexter Lawrence talks with the media after a practice session in Munich, Germany on Nov. 8, 2024. AP

Lawrence is second in the NFL with nine sacks — the Panthers as a team have just 10 sacks — but the Giants last week, for the first time this season, failed to get a sack. They continue to lead the league with 35.

And now Lawrence takes aim at Mays.

“I like when they talk about me over there so he’s probably talking a lot about me, thinking he know me but I’ve grown over the weeks,” Lawrence said.

Brian Burns’ sentiment about his old team was a bit stronger overseas.

He is set to face the Panthers for the first time since they traded him to the Giants in exchange for a 2024 second-round pick, 2025 fifth-round pick and a swap of 2024 fourth-round picks.

Burns then signed a five-year, $141 million extension.

Burns spent five seasons with the Panthers. After saying earlier in the week that he wasn’t approaching this as a revenge game, he said, “I am a little extra motivated” after practice Friday in Munich.

Daniel Jones grew up in Charlotte, N.C., as a fan of the Panthers.

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He is 2-0 against his boyhood favorite team, having beaten them in 2021 and 2022, with both games at MetLife Stadium.

“Yeah, it’s cool,” Jones said. “I think it just kind of gives you perspective on your journey and how far you’ve come playing against a team you grew up rooting for. So, definitely a cool experience. But once the ball is kicked off and it’s time to go, it’ll be like any other game.”

This is the NFL’s fifth and final international game of the season.

It is the second game ever played at Allianz Arena, home of the FC Bayern Munich.

The first game held in Germany was in 2022, when Tom Brady and the Buccaneers beat the Seahawks, 21-16, in the Bavarian capital.

There were two NFL games in Frankfurt in 2023.

K Graham Gano was activated from injured reserve and will make his return for this game. … WR Isaiah Hodgins and LB Curtis Bolton were elevated from the practice squad.