For the second time this season, Texans coach DeMeco Ryans found himself defending Azezz Al-Shaair against calls for the linebacker’s suspension. Ryans’ words Monday after Al-Shaair’s illegal hit on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence were similar to his words in September when he defended Al-Shaair for punching Bears running back Roschon Johnson.
Al-Shaair wasn’t suspended for the punch, instead paying an $11,817 fine. He also was fined $11,255 last week for a hit out of bounds on Titans running back Tony Pollard.
He is expected to be suspended for his hit on Lawrence, which prompted the Jaguars to go after Al-Shaair on the sideline.
“He’s an exceptional leader for us,” Ryans said, via video from Aaron Wilson of KPRC. “Azeez is a really good player, and he plays the game the right way. His intent is never to hurt anyone as he’s playing the game. If anybody knows Azeez and talks to Azeez, nobody with a bigger heart than Azeez. This guy is a special guy I’ve known since 2019. Special young man. Love working with him. For any picture that’s painted that Azeez is a dirty player or doing something intentional, that’s the exact opposite of what Azeez is. People who know Azeez, they know him. They know how he plays the game.
“Yes, he plays it fast. He plays it physical. Sometimes that physical nature gets misunderstood in today’s game.”
No one misunderstood Al-Shaair’s hit on Lawrence. The hit was late, as Lawrence slid after a 6-yard gain, and it was cheap, as Al-Shaair placed his padded elbow into Lawrence’s head and neck area. Lawrence’s head slammed against the turf, and he now is in concussion protocol.
Al-Shaair issued an apology Monday, a day after his second-quarter ejection.
“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. You don’t know what a guy is thinking. You don’t know if a guy is staying up and he’s continuing to run, and then you get a late slide, and you hit the guy. Unfortunate that Trevor got hurt. We hope Trevor is OK. But it’s also if we’re sliding we’ve got to get down; if we’re getting out of bounds, we get out of bounds. That rule is there to protect the quarterbacks and we want our quarterbacks to be safe in the league.
“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 Texans are on their off week this week, so if the league suspends Al-Shaair, the linebacker will sit out in Week 15.
