Houston Texans coach DeMeco Ryans delivered a fierce defense of his player, Azeez Al-Shaair, after Al-Shaair illegally hit Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence in the head on Sunday.
Al-Shaair hit Lawrence after the Jacksonville quarterback gave himself up by sliding in the second quarter of the Texans’ 23-20 win. Lawrence had to be carted off the field and was ruled out due to a concussion.
Ryans addressed the controversial dirty hit in a Monday press conference in which he called the situation “two-fold” and proceeded to place some of the blame on Lawrence.
“We stand behind Azeez and everything that came from that," Ryans said. "Of course he unfortunately hit the quarterback. But it's two-fold, right? 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, 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 then you get a late slide and you hit the guy.”
“Unfortunate that Trevor got hurt,” added Ryans. “We hope Trevor's okay. But also, if we're sliding, we have to get down."
DeMeco Ryans defends Azeez Al-Shaair and blasts the Jacksonville Jaguars for their overreaction after Al-Shaair's hit on Trevor Lawrence. pic.twitter.com/PcbGRQdLdK
— Jeremy Branham (@JeremyBranham) December 2, 2024
Ryans also said he thought the Jaguars overreacted after the hit, which caused an on-field scrum between players. Al-Shaair and Jaguars defensive back Jarrian Jones were ejected, and Evan Engram was penalized for unnecessary roughness.
“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 sidelines as well with both teams,” said Ryans.
Al-Shaair has since issued a statement apologizing for hurting Lawrence but is reportedly expected to receive a suspension from the league.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Houston’s DeMeco Ryans Seemed to Put Some Blame on Trevor Lawrence for Ugly Hit.
