DALLAS _ Dexter Lawrence is holding out hope that he will be able to play in the Cotton Bowl on Saturday. Either way, Clemson's star defensive lineman is "at peace" with where things stand after he found out last week that he failed a drug test.
Lawrence spoke with the media Thursday for the first time since learning that he is facing a suspension for the Cotton Bowl against Notre Dame.
Lawrence insists that he did not knowingly take an illegal substance and said he has no idea how ostarine got into his system.
"I know that I have no control on what the B sample result will be. I'm just here to support my teammates and try to be the leader that I've been all year," Lawrence said. "Just helping the mentality of the whole team just be better and bring us closer together and things like that."
Lawrence was back home visiting a friend in North Carolina last week when he received a phone call from Dabo Swinney. Clemson's head coach did not sound like his normal self when Lawrence answered the phone.
Swinney then asked Lawrence if he had taken an illegal substance. The junior's first reaction was shock.
"I was looking at my phone like, 'Are you crazy? What's wrong with you for asking something like that.' The next thing you know he tells me I tested positive for something I've never heard of or know where to get it," Lawrence said. "I can say I'm not the type of guy to do a selfish act like that. I have too much pride. I love this team and my family too much to even think about putting a substance like that in my body.
"I don't know where it came from, how it got there. I was raised different. If I did do it I'd own up to it, but all I can say is I honestly don't know what happened or how it got in. It's just there. There's nothing I can really do about it."
Clemson is awaiting official word on whether Lawrence will miss the Cotton Bowl against Notre Dame. Lawrence, tight end Braden Galloway and offensive lineman Zach Giella are all facing a suspension after the NCAA found a trace of ostarine in their systems. A final decision is expected once results from a second "B sample" urine test are released.
The results are expected to come in sometime on Thursday.
Lawrence, Galloway and Giella do not hang out much, according to Lawrence, but they do share one similarity: Their lockers are in the same area.
"That's about all. We don't really hang around each other that much," he said.
Lawrence has not hired legal counsel yet but is prepared to do so depending on the results of the "B" sample.
"I have a guy who's guiding me, just giving me some knowledge about everything," Lawrence said, adding that he has been racking his brain to try to find out how the substance could have gotten into his body.
"I stick to a strict routine. Nothing has changed. I'm confused. I'm mind boggled. I just honestly don't know," he said. "Just doing research, just trying to find out what I've done differently or what I've drank differently or something like that."
Lawrence was offered a choice of whether he wanted to attend Media Day for the Cotton Bowl on Thursday, and he chose to come and answer questions from dozens of reporters about the topic. Giella and Galloway did not attend the media availability.
"I just wanted to come because I consider myself a leader and I just wanted the guys to know I've got their back just like they've got mine," Lawrence said.
According to the Banned Substances Control Group, ostarine was "developed in the mid 2000s to help combat bone and muscle wasting in people suffering from a range of debilitating diseases and aging but is still being clinically researched and is not yet an approved drug. Ostarine is designed to activate the androgen receptor in a similar fashion to anabolic steroids. Because it produces strength gains similar to those of anabolic steroids without unpopular androgenic side effects, the drug has become a prevalent steroid alternative for bodybuilders and athletes."
