After coming back from a knee injury, defensive end Carl Lawson was injured again during Auburn’s season opener against Louisville last Saturday.

Lawson came out of the game during the first half after he landed awkwardly on his hip after a shared sack of Louisville quarterback Reggie Bonnafon. While he remained on the field in full uniform, he did not return to the game. It was later reported that he had irritation in his hip flexor.

Lawson was cleared to play, but not putting Lawson back into the game was a smart decision. Keeping a quality player like Lawson healthy will pay off for Auburn in the long run. It also allowed the coaches to see what a Lawson-less defense looked like. It didn’t look great.

After he came out, Louisville run game started to come alive. With Lawson in the game, Louisville was only make 1- or 2-yard rushing gains when they weren’t getting stuffed in the backfield. With Lawson out, the running lanes opened up. On the Louisville drive immediately after Lawson came out, Bonnafon managed a 13-yard run for a first down. Two drives after that, Louisville’s other quarterback, Lamar Jackson, ran for 18 yards.

In total, Auburn’s defense allowed Jackson to run for 106 yards and pass for 100 more. Jackson’s only play sharing the field with Lawson was the first of the game, when he was intercepted because of Lawson’s pressure. In other words, Jackson gained all of those yards after Lawson was already occupying the sideline. Brandon Radcliff, Louisville’s top running back, totaled 76 rushing yards with his longest run at 22. That run also happened shortly after Lawson left the field.

All of this is not to say that Lawson was the only reason why Auburn’s defense started off so strong, and that his exit was the only reason why Auburn’s defense lost its grip in the second half of the game. But Lawson’s contribution to the defense cannot be overlooked or denied. Now that the Tigers have shown that their much-improved defense is not without its weaknesses, they need Lawson playing on Saturdays more than ever.

Looking forward to the upcoming game against Jacksonville State, Lawson is expected to play. Will Muschamp has made clear that who the opponent is doesn’t matter. “We don’t hold anybody back,” he said on Wednesday, according to AL.com. He also reinforced Gus Malzahn’s statement about how Auburn is a young and inexperienced team, which means they need to make the most of the 12 games they are given a year to develop their players.

Whatever the reasoning behind it, the Tigers will be glad to see Lawson take the field again for Week 2. But they also better hope Lawson can continue to take the field for the rest of the season.