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Trevor Lawrence was knocked out of Sunday’s game after taking a hit to the head by Azeez Al-Shaair, who was later suspended three games for the hit deemed dirty by many. However, Al-Shaair claimed he had no ill-intent, and Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio called the treatment of the defender “bulls—“.
Minnesota Vikings cornerback Stephon Gilmore, in a recent interview with Fox News Digital, expressed sympathy for Lawrence’s situation, saying it’s a challenging circumstance. “You never want to see someone get hit like that. It’s kind of tricky sometimes with quarterbacks running, trying to get first downs, and then sliding at the last second, I see both sides.”
Gilmore also acknowledged that defenders rarely get the benefit of the doubt on those bang-bang plays. “It’s hard – some quarterbacks slide early, sometimes you try to get a first down so they get aggressive, you don’t know when to pull back and go for the tackle, so it’s tricky.”
Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans echoed similar sentiments, saying the Jaguars players overreacted and that it’s a tricky situation for defenders. “It’s also – it’s twofold, right? I mean 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 now 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 know what a guy’s thinking.”
