The Jacksonville Jaguars have placed quarterback Trevor Lawrence on injured reserve, three days after he suffered a concussion following a hit by Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair.
Lawrence was carted off during Sunday’s 23-20 Jaguars loss to the Texans, a defeat that dropped Jacksonville to 2-10 on the season. Al-Shaair’s hit sparked a brawl between the teams and led to the ejection of Al-Shaair and Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones.
Lawrence eventually left the field 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 five games left in the Jaguars’ season, there’s a high likelihood we don’t see the 25-year-old back on the field until next season.
Al-Shaair, who has since apologized, was suspended three games by the NFL for the hit, but is appealing the decision.
Tom Brady, DeMeco Ryans, Texans GM weigh in on hit
Appearing on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” on Tuesday, Brady said that quarterbacks should get more blame for late hits coming during quarterback slides.
“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 didn’t comment directly on the Lawrence/Al-Shaair play, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans didn’t hold back on blaming the Jaguars quarterback for the resulting injury.
“We stand behind Azeez and everything that came from that,” said Ryans, who played linebacker 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 onus 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 and expressed his displeasure with the three-game suspension given 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.”
Mac Jones entered the game for Lawrence on Sunday and is expected to start the rest of the season for the Jaguars.
