Colts news: Texans linebacker's dirty hit on Trevor Lawrence is nothing new

The Indianapolis Colts are battling for a spot in the playoffs, and potentially as champions of the AFC South. Currently, the Houston Texans are on top of the division, but the lead they hold over the Colts is slim, and the Texans are facing more tough opponents in the remaining weeks of the season than the Colts are. Both teams are facing divisional match-ups in the last week of the season -- the Colts against the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Texans against the Tennessee Titans -- so if the Colts go on a winning streak, it's entirely possible that they could end up winning the AFC South.

This weekend, however, the Texans played the Jaguars, and created headlines for all the wrong reasons. Linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair was ejected from the game after a late hit on quarterback Trevor Lawrence that left Lawrence seemingly unconconscious, at least momentarily, and posturing, a sign of a traumatic brain injury. It was later confirmed that Lawrence did suffer a concussion, and many are now calling for the NFL to institute a harsher punishment.

The hit: was it dirty?

The hit caused immediate chaos, with Evan Engram and the rest of the Jacksonville team flooding the field to stand up for their QB, causing a massive fight and, eventually, several ejections.

It didn't take long for analysts, former players, and fans alike to react, almost all agreeing that Al-Ashaair was in the wrong.

The league reacts

Fans at the game were understandably furious.

Former players likewise said this hit was unnecessary.

Many people compared it to the Kiko Alonso hit on Joe Flacco.

Al-Ashaair apologizes... sort of

The man in the middle of the controversy took to X with an apology written on his Notes app, that mostly avoided taking any responsibility for the situation and, even worse, labeled fans as racist and Islamophobic for criticizing the hit.

He said his goal is always to "hit you as hard as I can," though he hopes his opponents can still go home unharmed afterwards, saying it wasn't personal, but "just competition." Though he did add an apology, he also claimed he didn't notice Lawrence sliding until it was too late, and that it all happened too fast.

Any goodwill he may have been able to garner with his apology was erased, however, when he began playing the victim himself.

"To the rest of the people who I've been called every name in the book from the reporters with their hands ready for a story to find their villain, to racist and Islamophobic fans and people, you don't know my heart nor my character which I don't need to prove to any of you," he wrote.

This actually is what the Texans stand for

Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans responded by arguing that this wasn't the kind of football he coaches and that it doesn't represent who Al-Ashaair is. “It’s unfortunate with the hit. … That’s not what we’re coaching,” Ryans said. “Want to be smart in everything we do and not hurt the team. … We just have to be smarter when the quarterback is going down."

He continued, “Not representative of who Azeez is. He's is a smart player, really a great leader for us. We felt his presence not being there. His loss, it really affected us on the defensive side. Not what we’re coaching, you don't want to see the melee, the aftermath. That’s not what we’re about. We’ll move forward.”

Many pointed out that this is, in fact, normal behavior from Al-Ashaair, pointing specifically to a game against the Chicago Bears earlier this season, where he not only executed the same kind of dirty hit on Caleb Williams, but also punched Roschon Johnson - who wasn't even playing at the time - in the face.

A highlight reel of all the dirty plays conducted by Al-Ashaair was also put together and posted it on X.

While it could be claimed that this is on Al-Ashaair alone, the reality is that this behavior does reflect upon who the Texans are as an organization. Not only is he still allowed to play for them, but he was made a team captain in 2023, kept a team captain in 2024, and remained a captain after the dirty hit on Williams and punching Johnson in the face.

Given that, it seems clear that the Texans do, in fact, support his behavior. If this behavior was something they didn't condone, they would have taken action before, and even now, Ryans is defending Al-Ashaair as being a player of good character. So Ryans can say whatever he wants - the actions of his team speak much louder.