The Jacksonville Jaguars placed quarterback Trevor Lawrence on injured reserve on Wednesday, three days after he suffered a concussion after being hit by Houston Texans linebacker Aziz Al-Shair.
Lawrence was ruled out during Sunday’s 23-20 Jaguars loss to the Texans, a loss that dropped Jacksonville to 2-10 on the season. Al-Shair’s injury led to a brawl between the teams, and Al-Shair and Jaguars cornerback Zarian Jones ejected.
Lawrence finally sat upright in a cart and left the field. he was After that, he dropped out of the game with head injury.
Lawrence’s season is also now reportedly over. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Lawrence is expected to undergo surgery next week to repair an injury to his AC joint in his left shoulder. The 25-year-old is expected to make a full recovery in time for the start of the 2025 season.
Al-Shair, who has since apologized, was suspended three games by the NFL for the hit. He appealed the decision, but the NFL upheld the decision Wednesday night.
Tom Brady, DiMeco Ryans, Texans GM weigh in on hit
Appearing on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” on Tuesday, Brady said quarterbacks should take more of the blame for late hits during quarterback slides.
“Quarterbacks need to take better care of themselves,” Brady said. … “When you run, you put yourself in a lot of danger. And when you do that, I don’t think the onus should be on a defensive player to protect the offensive quarterback. I don’t think that’s really fair to the defense. .”
Although Brady did not directly comment on the Lawrence/Al-Shair game, Texas head coach DiMeco Ryans did not hesitate to blame the Jaguars quarterback for the resulting injury.
“We stand behind Aziz and everything that comes from it,” said Ryans, who played linebacker for 10 NFL seasons. “Obviously an unfortunate injury to a quarterback. But it’s two-fold. 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.
“Now, you’re a defender, and a lot of responsibility is on the defender. Whether it’s on the sideline or at quarterback, you don’t know what a guy is thinking. You don’t know if a guy will be there. You don’t know and you get a late slide and you hit the guy.
“Unfortunate that Trevor got hurt. We hope Trevor is OK. But also, if we slip, you have to get off.”
Texans general manager Nick Caserio backed up his player and expressed his displeasure with the three-game suspension handed down to Al-Shayr.
“I think one of the biggest issues that we object to … is Aziz’s painting,” Caserio said. “And I would say one of the biggest issues … is continuity from the league. And I would say in this situation, quite frankly, there is no consistency with the level of discipline that has been handed down.”
Mack Jones entered Sunday’s game for Lawrence and is expected to start the rest of the season for the Jaguars.
