One of the more uglier moments from Week 13 was the late hit by Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair on Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Al-Shaair was ejected from the game for the hit while Lawrence was carted to the locker room and has been placed in the concussion protocol.
On Monday, Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans came to the defense of Al-Shaair, even going as far as putting some blame on Lawrence for the hit.
“With the entire situation, we stand behind Azeez and everything that came from that,” Ryans said.
“Of course, the unfortunate hit on the quarterback, but it’s also 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, and you’re a defender, and a lot of onus is on the defender, whether it’s on the sideline or on the quarterback.”
DeMeco Ryans also called out the Jacksonville Jaguars for starting the brawl after the play.
“The entire thing is Azeez hits the guy, but their sideline overreacts and it turns into a melee. 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.”
The expectation is that Azeez Al-Shaair will be suspended by the NFL. The Texans are on their off week this week, so the the league suspends Al-Shaair, the linebacker will sit out in Week 15.
