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.
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 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 thats deemed late or unnecessary.” The quote marks around “late” and “unnecessary” are his own.
The next voice to weigh in is expected to be the NFL’s amid calls to hand out substantial discipline for the hit.