HOOVER, Ala. – Carl Lawson is heading into his fourth season at Auburn. At SEC media days last week, he said he felt more like “a second-year guy.”

That’s because the junior defensive end, ranked No. 2 overall in the ESPN 300 coming out of high school in 2013, has played in just seven games the past two seasons because of injuries. He missed all of 2014 with a torn ACL and missed six games in 2015 with a hip injury. Even when he returned midway through last season, he admits he was only 60 percent healthy.

But some good has come from the time away. Lawson said he has matured as a football player, and he’s changed his approach this offseason as a result. He’s no longer lifting weights and running every chance he gets. Instead, he has spent his weekends stretching or doing yoga or simply resting.

“It wasn’t necessarily because of the injuries,” Lawson said. “It was because I’ve gotten smarter as a player and I’ve seen how stuff affects your body. I’ve gotten bigger, faster, stronger from resting.

"I’ve always been like ‘Oh, I’ve got to do this to get like this.’ Resting, plus taking your workout seriously, is way more effective than just burning your body out.”

That’s a significant change from when Lawson first got to Auburn. His head was spinning, and he thought the harder he worked, the better he would be as a player. After his first injury, the torn ACL in 2014, he felt he had to go hard "every play, every workout, every rep” to get back to the player he was before the injury.

As it turns out, that wasn’t the case. He talked with former Auburn players who are now in the NFL and realized that it’s not about how much you work. It’s about how proficiently you work.

That’s not to say Lawson isn’t striving to be the best player in the SEC.

“Carl is Carl,” fellow Auburn defensive lineman Montravius Adams said. “He wants to be the best, so he’s going to do whatever it takes. If it takes running through a wall, he’s going to run through it 100 miles per hour. Whatever he needs to do -- if he needs to watch more film, he’s going to do it. If he needs to help out another player, like I see him doing all the time, he’s going to do it. That’s why I think he’s a great leader.”

That’s also why Auburn coach Gus Malzahn selected Lawson as one of the three players to represent the school at media days this year.

“He’s one of our team leaders,” Malzahn said. “He’s one of those guys that has the respect of his teammates and his coaches [because] of his talent, his work ethic, his maturity. Just being with somebody for three years, you see how important it is to him for his team to be successful.”

Lawson could have turned pro after last season. It's not certain how high he would have been drafted with such a small sample size of college film, but some team would have taken a chance on him. There’s no denying his talent and raw ability.

The truth is Lawson didn’t think he was a good enough football player to turn pro. He still needed develop, gain experience.

“I’ve been at Auburn for a while, but unfortunately I’ve had some injuries and I haven’t played that much,” he said. “That football experience and going through a full spring, and then being able to train and get faster and stronger, it was appealing to me.

"Another season under my belt will definitely help me."