It's not a coping mechanism. He has been solid at times, but he has also been quite poor in some outings. I have yet to see these stellar performances that scream generational talent. Perhaps he is precisely considered a generational talent due to the dearth of quality defenders
Who hasn't been poor on this team? Even in the best of circumstances you would expect inconsistency from a 20-22 y.o. defender at Juventus. Worse yet when the team has been as chaotic as it's been for the last 2.5 seasons. You expect him to hold down the rest of the team on his own?
Imo, he's more consistent than everyone on this team except Chiellini and Cuads (who can have some shitters himself when he's ready). Bonucci with all his experience has had a lot more shit games in the last 2.5 seasons than MDL, although he's been in good form this season.
The majority of the time he has been good to great. I don't see why he wouldn't continue to improve with age.
Who are the better defenders his age?
Chiesa having an off game doesn't necessarily mean we lose the game but his magic might win some. De ligt having off games means there's a good chance we are losing. There's a huge difference between creating and defending. A more apt comparison would be bonucci vs de ligt.
Of course, a defender's job is critical. But I'm just talking about the way he's rated on Tuz.
It's an easy comparison vs Bonucci for me

As said above, MDL has been better in his time here.