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Texans coach DeMeco Ryans places blame on Trevor Lawrence for Azeez Al-Shaair hit that concussed him

jason owens
Staff writer
·3-min read

On Monday, Houston head coach DeMeco Ryans addressed the hit by Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair that concussed Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence on Sunday.

He placed blame on Lawrence. And he believes that Jaguars players overreacted when they responded to the hit.

Ryans spoke about the hit during his news conference Monday afternoon.

"We stand behind Azeez and everything that came from that," Ryans said. "Of course the unfortunate hit on a quarterback. But it's two-fold. A lot of the quarterbacks in this day and age, they try to take advantage of the rule where they slide late and they try to get an extra yard.

"Now, you're a defender, and a lot of onus is on the defender. Whether it's on the sideline or it's on the quarterback, you don't know what a guy is thinking. You don't know if a guy's staying up and he's continuing to run. You don't know. And you get a late slide and you hit the guy.

"Unfortunate that Trevor got hurt. We hope Trevor's OK. But also, if we're sliding, you have to get down."

Here's the hit in full speed:

And again in slow motion:

Lawrence initiated his slide as Al-Shaair braced for the tackle. Al-Shaair then launched himself head first toward Lawrence after Lawrence had given himself up. The hit left Lawrence lying dazed on the field and out of the game with a concussion. It also sparked a brawl as Jaguars players responded in kind to Al-Shaair's hit.

Ryans also has a problem with this.

"The entire thing is, Azeez hits the guy, but their sideline overreacts, and it turns into a melee," Ryans said. "It wasn’t our guys. Their team overreacted, pushed our guy, dragging our guy to the sideline. So that’s uncalled for on that side. We have to be better on the sideline as well with both teams."

DeMeco Ryans chided quarterbacks for taking
DeMeco Ryans chided quarterbacks for taking "advantage of the rule where they slide late and they try to get an extra yard." (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)

The NFL doled out ejections for both teams on Sunday. Al-Shaair got tossed for the hit that sparked it all. Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones was ejected for his role in the ensuing melee.

Earlier Monday, Al-Shaair issued a statement apologizing for injuring Lawrence and declaring that "I would never want to see any player hurt because of a hit I put on them especially one that’s deemed ‘late’ or ‘unnecessary.’" The quote marks around "late" and "unnecessary" are his own.

The NFL weighed in on Tuesday, suspending Al-Shaair three games without pay for his illegal hit on Lawrence. Al-Shaair is reportedly appealing the suspension.