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NFL coaches and players — both past and present — have offered their reactions to the illegal hit taken by Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
The play in question happened on Sunday, December 1, when Lawrence, 25, was hit in the head by Houston Texans linebacker Azezz Al-Shaair while the Jaguars star was sliding to the field.
Lawrence suffered a concussion on the play, Al-Shaair, 27, was ejected from the game and an on-field melee ensued, leading to additional ejections and further chaos.
A suspension has not yet been issued by the NFL, but is expected.
On Sunday evening, Lawrence offered an update about his condition.
“Thank you to everyone who has reached out / been praying for me,” he wrote via X. “I’m home and feeling better. Means a lot, thank you all 🙏🏻.”
Al-Shaair issued his own statement on Monday, December 2, where he offered his condolences to Lawrence.
“I genuinely didn’t see him sliding until it was too late,” Al-Shaair wrote via Instagram Story. “And it all happens in the blink of an eye. To Trevor i genuinely apologize to you for what ended up happening. Before the game we spoke and I told how it was great to see how back out on the field and wished you well.”
Lawrence previously sustained a shoulder injury during Jacksonville’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles on November 3. The game against the Texans on Sunday marked Lawrence’s return to the lineup after missing the team’s previous two games.
Still, Al-Shaair chalked up the unfortunate injury to the dangerous nature of football.
“I’ve always played the game as hard as I could,” he wrote. “Never with the intent to harm anyone and anybody that knows me knows that. My goal is to hit you as hard as I can then I pray you’re still able to get up and play the next play.”
He continued, “And when the game is over go home to your family unharmed because it’s not personal it’s just competition! We both are trying to do the same thing which is provide for our families!”
For more on how members of the NFL community reacted to the hit on Lawrence, keep scrolling.
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson
After the game, Pederson, 56, said the hit by Al-Shaair was “a play that has no business in our league.”
Pederson did not indicate when he expected Lawrence to return to action, if at all this season.
Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans
During his postgame press conference Ryans, 40, said Al-Shaair’s hit is “not what we coach.”
“It’s not representative of who Azeez is,” Ryans added. “He’s a smart player. A really great leader for us. We felt his presence not being there.”
Jacksonville Jaguars tight end Evan Engram
Engram, 30, who was ejected from the game for his role in the on-field fight that happened after Al-Shaair’s hit called it “a dirty play.”
“You just stick up for your guys,” Engram said of the scuffle.
Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen
While Hines-Allen acknowledged that Al-Shaair’s hit was “dumb,” he also issued him some grace.
“At the end of the day he’s just playing football, but again, the way we’ve changed the rules of how we play, we go over these things,” Hines-Allen said after the game. “We talk about these things. We know how to play football. A couple of years ago, that would’ve been a great hit, but now that wasn’t a good play on him.”
He continued, “I am not going to sit up there and say, ‘Does he deserve to get suspended or not?’ That’s not my call at that moment. It wasn’t smart.”
Former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III
Griffin, 34, who played for eight seasons in the NFL, reacted to the hit on social media.
“Prayers up for Trevor Lawrence,” the former ESPN analyst wrote via X. “There is no place in the game of football for dirty hits like this one.”
ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr.
Van Natta Jr., 60, a senior writer for ESPN, called for the book to be thrown at Al-Shaair.
Azeez Al-Shaair, whose cheap shot hit concussed Trevor Lawrence, should be suspended for the remainder of the season,” he wrote via X.
Former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho
Acho, 34, who appeared in 20 games for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2013 and 2014, acknowledged Al-Shaair’s hit was “illegal” — but argued there’s more to the story.
“I do not think it was a dirty hit,” Acho said Monday, December 2 on FS1’s The Facility. “An illegal hit, not a dirty hit.”
Acho added, “Dirty to me is involving mal intent. Al-Shaair said he greeted Trevor Lawrence before the game. I don’t think there was mal intent. If Al-Shaair really wanted to be dirty, he would have led with his [head] and hit him in the [head].”
