Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence Reflects on Illegal Hit From Azeez Al-Shaair

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence is ready to move on from the hit that helped end his 2024 season.

In a Week 12 bout vs. the Houston Texans, Lawrence took an illegal hit to the head from Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair that resulted in a concussion for Lawrence, who soon landed on injured reserve for the rest of the season.

While the hit was a hot-topic button for several weeks -- and resulted in a post-hit brawl and later a three-game suspension for Al-Shaair -- Lawrence is ready to put the hit behind him, even if he never personally heard from Al-Shaair himself following the hit.

“I think, obviously, it's something that I've kind of wanted to move on from. I try to stay away from commenting on the whole deal. I think it’s a tough situation. I mean, obviously part of you is like, yeah, it would have been nice to reach out, but I know he's got his own stuff going on and he's trying to—I think a lot of that is he's trying to fight for his reputation on his end, and I don't think personally attacking the guy is the right answer," Lawrence said on Thursday.

"I know guys that know him, and everyone says he's a great guy. I don't know him personally, so obviously the hit was—I don't think the hit was right, but I also don't think that—I think if he knew that was going to happen, he wouldn't do it. I would hope no person would do that if they knew the end result. So, obviously, he doesn't know that, but I don't think the hit was right, so I stand by that, but I also don't condone people attacking the guy personally because it is football and things happen fast.

The hit ended up being one of the most controversial moments of the 2024 season. And for Lawrence, he hopes it stays in 2024.

"Like I said, I don't think he's maliciously trying to do that to somebody, I just think he went a little overboard with that and trying to be physical and obviously, he was suspended for a while and paid the price for that," Lawrence said. "I want to move on from it. It's nothing you can do now. It's in the past. I don't—as far as holding grudges and stuff like that—I like to move on and I’ve got a life to live beyond that, so I've moved on from it.”

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