The fallout from the aftermath of Sunday’s brutal hit did not turn out well for Lawrence. The Jacksonville Jaguars have placed quarterback Trevor Lawrence on injured reserve, just over 72 hours after he sustained a concussion following a massive blow by Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair.
Lawrence was carted off during Sunday’s 23-20 Jaguars loss to their division rival Texans, a defeat that dropped Jacksonville to 2-10 on a season that started out with such promise because of off-season acquisitions. Al-Shaair’s hit sparked an all-out fracas between the teams and led to the ejection of Al-Shaair and Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones.
Lawrence eventually left the field after several minutes sitting upright on a cart. He was ruled out of the game shortly thereafter with a head injury.
Lawrence will miss at least the next four games, but with only five games left on the Jaguars’ schedule, there is a good possibility that the 25-year-old former No. 1 pick out of Clemson, will not be back on the field until 2025.
Al-Shaair, who took to social media to deliver an apology, was suspended three games by the NFL for the hit, but is appealing the decision.
Appearing on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” on Tuesday, seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, who many consider the ‘G.O.A.T.’, made some controversial remarks saying that quarterbacks should shoulder more blame for late hits coming during quarterback slides.
Embed from Getty Images“The 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 of protecting an offensive quarterback who’s running should be on a defensive player. I don’t think that’s really fair to the defense.”
While Brady did not comment directly on the Lawrence/Al-Shaair incident, Texans coach DeMeco Ryans did not hold back on blaming the Jaguars signal caller for the resulting injury.
“We stand behind Azeez and everything that came from that,” said Ryans, who played the linebacker position for 10 NFL seasons. “Of course, the unfortunate hit on a quarterback. But it’s 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.
“Now, you’re a defender, and a lot of responsibility is on the defender. Whether it’s on the sideline or it’s on the quarterback, you don’t know what a guy is thinking. You don’t know if a guy’s staying up and he’s continuing to run. You don’t know. And you get a late slide and you hit the guy.
“Unfortunate that Trevor got hurt. We hope Trevor’s OK. But also, if we’re sliding, you have to get down.”
Texans general manager Nick Caserio backed up his player 100% and expressed his anger and frustration with the lengthy three-game suspension handed down to Al-Shaair.
“I think one of the biggest issues that we sort of take umbrage with … is the picture that’s been painted of Azeez. Quite frankly, it’s unfair,” Caserio said. “And I’d say one of the biggest issues … is consistency from the league. And I’d say in this situation, quite frankly, there is no consistency at all relative to the level of discipline that’s been handed down.”
Backup quarterback Mac Jones entered the game for Lawrence on Sunday and is expected to start the rest of the season for the Jaguars. He is a former first round pick out of the University of Alabama, No. 15 overall.
