The NFL suspends Houston Texans’ Azeez Al-Shaair for three games after brutal hit

The main story from Houston’s 23-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars this past Sunday was the brutal/dirty hit by Houston Texans’ LB Azeez Al-Shaair on QB Trevor Lawrence in the second quarter. The hit knocked Lawrence to the ground and involuntarily forcing a “fencing response”, an after-effect from a major concussion. The hit sparked a series of fights between Houston and Jacksonville players, with Al-Shaair being ejected from the contest. Lawrence reported that he is doing ok, but the fallout from that play continues.

After all the uproar and the highlights, the NFL was expected to act quickly. As of this morning, they did. ESPN reported that the NFL suspended Al-Shaair for three games. The league announcement noted that Al-Shaair was “involved in a play that the NFL considers unacceptable and a serious violation of the playing rules.” Additionally, the response from John Runyan, NFL Vice-President of Football Operations noted that Al-Shaair “proceeded to engage in a brawl, which you escalated when you pulled an opponent down to the ground by his facemask,” and that after his in-game ejection, Al-Shaair “removed your helmet and reengaged with your opponent while walking down and across the field...”

While the suspension covers his actions from the game in Jacksonville, Al-Shaair has already been the focus of several NFL fines/punishments this season. He was fined $11,817 for punching a Chicago Bears’ player and $11,255 for a late hit on a Tennessee Titans running back. Likely the NFL factored those previous actions in issuing this decision. Known as a fiery defender, Al-Shaair’s play can straddle the line between excessive physicality and against the NFL rules. Even as Demeco Ryans attempted to defend Al-Shaair actions on Monday, the league felt differently.

While Al-Shaair is likely to appeal, Houston will plan to face its most difficult stretch of games without one of its top LBs. On a bye this week, Houston will kick off three games in 10 days by hosting Miami and their potentially dangerous rushing attack. After that, Houston travels to Kansas City, where the Chiefs’ offense expects to have Isiah Pacheco back in the lineup. Oh, then there is the Christmas Day tilt with Baltimore, with Texans’ nemeses Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson. While there is never a good time to get suspended, losing a key defender before this stretch of games is really unfortunate.

Expect Houston to work through the appeals process, but also expect them to make some roster moves to shore up what limited depth the team has at LB. Perhaps the eventual return of Christian Harris can mitigate some of the shortfalls. However, a tough stretch of games for a team trying to find its footing before the playoffs just got that much tougher.