Texans' DeMeco Ryans fires 4-word message after controversial Trevor Lawrence hit

The Houston Texans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars in a Week 13 AFC South grudge match. However the victory was marred by Texans’ linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair’s ugly hit on a sliding Trevor Lawrence. The dirty hit knocked Lawrence out of the game and started a brawl between the teams. Lawrence needed to be carted off the field while Al-Shaair was ejected and will certainly be fined by the league.

When speaking of the unfortunate incident after the game, Texans coach DeMeco Ryans indicated regret for his player’s actions, saying the illegal hit wasn’t indicative of Houston’s coaching or Al-Shaair.

However, on Monday, Ryans took things in a different direction during a press conference with reporters. “We stand behind Azeez,” Ryans said, via KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson on X.

And Ryans didn’t stop at expressing support for his player. He seemed to blame Lawrence for the hellacious hit. “It’s twofold. A lot of 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… a lot of onus is on the defender… you don’t know what a guy’s 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,” the Texans’ coach said.

Ryans also addressed the fight that ensued after Lawrence was laid out. “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,” Ryans explained.

Texans coach DeMeco Ryans defended Azeez Al-Shaair’s hit on Trevor Lawrence

Houston’s head coach has plenty of detractors. Jaguars players were vocal about Al-Shaair’s hit being “dirty” and “dumb” while Doug Pederson also called out the Texans’ linebacker. Although Rex Ryan agreed that the hit was dirty, he placed the blame on Lawrence’s slide, saying such slides tend to lead to helmet-to-helmet contact. Rex called for coaching staffs to change how they’re teaching their quarterbacks to slide.

While the league has yet to announce if Al-Shaair will be suspended, his hit on Caleb Williams in Week 2 could impact the discipline handed down to the sixth-year veteran. Al-Shaair hit Williams late as the rookie QB was running out of bounds. That incident also led to a fight between players.

Al-Shaair addressed his hit on Lawrence, releasing a statement that expressed remorse. The veteran defender was adamant that it wasn’t his intention to harm anyone.

The Texans are on bye in Week 14 while the Jaguars take on the Tennessee Titans. Lawrence was starting for the first time since suffering a shoulder sprain in Week 10. Mac Jones will fill in for as long as the fourth-year starter remains sidelined with a head injury.