DeMarcus Lawrence makes his debut

Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, the Cowboys' 2014 second-round pick, made his season debut on Sunday after missing the first eight games while recovering from a foot injury.

Lawrence played 27 snaps and recorded two tackles in the loss to Arizona. There was no pressures given, as he was at Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer's feet as he threw a pass.

"I had a pretty good overall game," Lawrence said. "There are still some things I can clean up overall. I think it was pretty good for the first game. I feel like those should be sacks, no excuses for me missing the opportunities on not getting a sack. I feel overall [that] I can do better."

Lawrence's second game comes on Sunday in London against the Jacksonville Jaguars. So he goes from chasing down Palmer, a 12-year veteran, to rookie Blake Bortles.

The Cowboys drafted Lawrence to become a pass rusher the team needed after the departure of DeMarcus Ware, who was released and then signed with the Denver Broncos. Pass rush has been lacking for the Cowboys this season, but defensive tackle Henry Melton has produced four sacks the past two weeks. After having four over a five week period, the Cowboys have five the past two weeks.

Lawrence hopes to be involved in those sack totals.

"Seem like he did a good job, he was active in the game," coach Jason Garrett said of Lawrence, who might get more playing time this week. "He showed up a little bit, around the football [and it] did not seem too big to him at all. He was physical, obviously, technically he has to improve, and he'll [learn] a lot from the snaps that he played. But there were a lot of positive things with DeMarcus."