On Monday, Houston head coach DiMeco Ryans addressed the injury to Texans linebacker Aziz Al-Shair that derailed Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence on Sunday.
He blamed it on Lawrence. And he believes the Jaguars players overreacted when they responded to the hit.
Ryans talked about the hit during his press conference Monday afternoon.
wow
HC Demeco Ryans says Trevor Lawrence is to blame for cheap shots on his players.
The Texans are slowly becoming the most hated team in the league 😳
— NFL Notify (@NFLNotify) December 3, 2024
“We stand behind Aziz and everything that came of it,” Ryans said. “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.”
Hit it full speed here:
And again in slow motion:
Lawrence began his slide as Al-Shayir prepared to tackle. After Lawrence surrendered, al-Shayir first advanced on Lawrence. The injury left Lawrence limp on the field and out of the game with the concussion. This sparked a brawl as Jaguars players responded to Al-Shayir’s hit.
Ryan has a problem with this too.
“The whole thing is, Aziz hits the guy, but their sideline overreacts and it turns into a melee,” Ryans said. “It wasn’t our guys. Their team overreacted, pushed our guy, pulled our guy to the sideline. So it’s uncalled for on that side. We’ve got to be better on the sideline with both teams.”
The NFL called out for both teams on Sunday. Al-Shair was tossed for the hit that scattered it. Jaguars cornerback Zarian Jones was ejected for his role in the ensuing melee.
Earlier on Monday, Al-Shayir issued a statement apologizing for injuring Lawrence and declaring that “I never want to see a player hurt because I hurt them especially one that is deemed ‘late’ or ‘unnecessary.’ .” Quote marks around “late” and “unnecessary” on its own.
The NFL is expected to be the next voice in the call to hand down enough discipline for the Heat.
