HE'S BACK!
Texans linebacker sounds off after suspension for hit on Lawrence
Jan 3, 2025, 11:53 am
HE'S BACK!
Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair said he was in a “really dark place” and wondered if he’d ever play football again in the days after he was suspended for three games for his hit on Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence that left the quarterback with a concussion.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday for the first time since the suspension, Al-Shaair discussed his state of mind during his absence.
“The things that you can think when somebody says they’re in a dark place, as dark as you can go is where I was truthfully,” he said.
Al-Shaair added that “it was hard for me to see myself playing football again” before he met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and league executives Troy Vincent and Jon Runyan.
Lawrence clenched both fists after the hit — movements consistent with what’s referred to as the “fencing response,” which can be common after a traumatic brain injury. He was on the ground for several minutes as teammates came to his defense and mobbed Al-Shaair in what escalated into a brawl.
As Al-Shaair was leaving the field after being ejected, fans started screaming at him. Jaguars veteran guard Brandon Scherff joined in, prompting another altercation with Al-Shaair. Texans teammate Will Anderson grabbed Al-Shaair and was escorting him off the field when a fan threw a water bottle and hit Anderson in the helmet.
Al-Shaair said that he understood the suspension, but disagreed with how he was characterized by Runyan in the letter informing him of the punishment. It included Runyan telling Al-Shaair: “Your lack of sportsmanship and respect for the game of football and all those who play, coach, and enjoy watching it, is troubling and does not reflect the core values of the NFL.”
He said he needed to talk to Runyan and other NFL executives to understand how they viewed him as a player before he could return to the field.
“I really had a moment of, there’s no way I can go out and play football again if this is how people that I work with view me,” Al-Shaair said.
He said Runyan told him that he was watching the play and the ensuing melee when he wrote the letter and that he was only referring to those moments and not his entire career in his comments about his sportsmanship.
“But the way he typed it, he said got obviously taken out of context,” Al-Shaair said. “I clearly made a mistake (and) the reason why he typed something which ended up being taken out of context as a mistake is because I did something that was obviously not right, me taking my helmet off and me starting another brawl ... wasn’t right.
“But everything prior to that I stand on the fact that I never tried to hurt him,” he continued.
Al-Shaair said he sat in a room not doing anything for about five days after his suspension.
“It’s like a blur,” he said. “I didn’t eat nothing. I didn’t go anywhere.”
By Friday of that week, some children at a foster care organization in Tennessee that he had met last year when he played for the Titans sent him messages of encouragement.
“I got so many different messages like that and I remember just sitting in my bed and I was like: ‘Man, like I can just keep sitting here sad and sulking and just feeling like I’m being misjudged or I can just do what I always do, which is just try to be positive and spread positivity, do the best that I can,’” he said.
He booked a plane ticket to Nashville and got there in time to attend the same event at the foster care organization that he’d attended the previous year.
“I had so many people saying so many negative things and to see people that were happy to see me and were happy about my presence I think that’s what kind of like snapped me back,” Al-Shaair said. “Like regardless of what’s being said, you know who you are and just lean into that and ... from there just crawling myself out of this place.”
When the AFC South champion Texans (9-7) face the Titans on Sunday, he'll return for the first time since the hit on Lawrence, and coach DeMeco Ryans is thrilled to have him back. The Texans have been hit hard by injuries and are limping into the playoffs after two straight losses.
“We’ve missed him over these past three weeks, just missed his presence, his leadership, missed his playmaking ability on the field,” Ryans said. “So, we’re excited to get him back out there and let him knock some of the rust off.”
The Houston Astros will aim to lock up a series victory Tuesday night as they face the Tampa Bay Rays in the second game of a three-game set. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. ET.
Houston (25–22) took the opener 4–3 on Monday and has now won five of its last ten games, continuing a recent surge that has pulled them back above .500 and into second place in the AL West. Tampa Bay (21–26) sits fourth in the AL East and has struggled to find consistency, especially at home where they are now just 11–18.
The Astros will turn to left-hander Brandon Walter, who is set to make his season debut. Walter, a depth option from the Astros' system, gets the nod with the club working through recent rotation injuries.
The Rays counter with right-hander Zack Littell (3–5, 4.31 ERA), who has been solid but not dominant across his first nine starts. He’s struck out 32 batters in 54.1 innings with a strong 1.12 WHIP.
Houston holds the AL’s fifth-best team on-base percentage (.318) and has gone 6–4 over its last 10 games, posting a .252 batting average and a 3.78 team ERA in that span. Tampa Bay is 5–5 over its last 10, hitting .236 while their pitching staff has combined for a 4.34 ERA.
According to BetMGM, the Astros are slight road favorites at -114, with the Rays at -105. The over/under is set at 9.5 runs, signaling expectations for a potentially high-scoring matchup.
With the series opener in their pocket and Walter making his first appearance of the year, the Astros will look to keep momentum rolling in Tampa and inch closer to the top of the AL West standings.
Here's a look at Tuesday's night's lineup:
Game 2 in the sunshine state.
⚾️: 6:05pm CT | 7:05pm ET
📺: @SpaceCityHN
🎙️: @SportsTalk790 | Spanish: 93.3 FM#BuiltForThis x @reliantenergy pic.twitter.com/5IXQCbyGsE
— Houston Astros (@astros) May 20, 2025
Yainer Diaz gets the night off, with Victor Caratini catching Walter in his big league debut. Chas McCormick is in the lineup again playing left field, and Zach Dezenzo gets the nod in the DH spot.