Houston Texans coach DeMeco Ryans took the opportunity on Tuesday to defend linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, who was suspended by the NFL for three games after leveling a violent hit on Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence during the team's Week 13 win.
"With the entire Azeez situation, we stand behind Azeez," Ryans said, via KPRC2. "It's two-fold. A lot of quarterbacks in this day and age, they try to take advantage of the rule or they slide late and they try to get an extra yard. You're a defender, a lot of onus is on the defender. Whether it's on the sideline or whether it's on the quarterback, you don't need what a guy is thinking. You don't know if a guy is staying up and he's continuing to run. You don't know, and then you get a late slide and you hit the guy.
"It's unfortunate that Trevor got hurt. I hope Trevor is okay. But it's also, when you're sliding, you have to get down. Getting out of bounds or getting down, that rule is there to protect the quarterbacks. We want our quarterbacks to be safe in the league. So we just have to be safe and when we're sliding, make sure we're keeping our heads down. The entire thing, Azeez hits the guy, but their sideline overreacts and it turns into a melee. But it wasn't our guys. Their team overreacted, dragging our guy, pushed our guy to the sideline. So, that's uncalled for on that side."
Ryans is probably correct that there is an issue with late-sliding quarterbacks. We've seen it in both the NFL and college football. But he's wrong that the issue is relevant to this particular slide. Lawrence got down in plenty of time.
— Evan Slowski (@ESlowski17) December 3, 2024
The Jaguars may have "overreacted" to the hit itself, but they also reacted in what is pretty standard fashion for an NFL team whose quarterback gets laid out by a hit like the one Al-Shaair laid on Lawrence. The situation wouldn't have escalated if not for the hit being leveled in the first place.
After defending Al-Shaair's hit, Ryans also went on at length about the linebacker's character and leadership.
"He's an exceptional leader for us. He's a really good leader for us and he plays the game the right way," Ryans said. "His intent is never to hurt anyone as he's playing the game. Anyone that knows Azeez, talks to Azeez -- nobody with a bigger heart than Azeez. This guy's a special guy that I've known since 2019. Special young man, love working with him.
"For any picture that's painted of him being a dirty player or doing something intentional, that's the exact opposite of what Azeez is. People who know Azeez, they know how he plays the game. Yes, he plays it fast. He plays it physical. But sometimes that physical nature gets misunderstood in today's game."
Again, it's entirely possible that Al-Shaair is a fantastic leader and even a great person; it's just not relevant to whether the hit on Lawrence was dirty -- which it was. Good leaders and people can do things that are wrong. It happens all the time, and it happened here. The NFL reacted accordingly.
