Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence suffered a head injury after taking a brutal hit from Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair.
During the Jaguar’s Sunday, December 1, home game against the Texans EverBank Stadium, a fight between the two teams broke out on the field after Lawrence, 24, was struck in the head by Al-Shaair, 27, during a play, per NBC Sports.
As Lawrence slid down at the end of a 6-yard run, Al-Shaair used his arm to illegally hit the opposing quarterback in the head and neck area, slamming Lawrence’s head against the ground.
Seconds after Lawrence was hit, Jaguars tight end Evan Engram shoved Al-Shaair in the back, which caused a massive brawl between the two teams to break out on the field. The two teams converged on each other, per footage shared by the NFL. As officials ran to attend to Lawrence, who was still on the ground during the brawl, the crowd booed loudly as the teams continued their exchange.
Lawrence was ruled out for the rest of the game with a concussion. When he left the field, he was sitting up in the front seat of a cart. According to ESPN, Lawrence was not taken to a hospital following his injury.
Al-Shaair, for his part, was ejected from the game. As he was escorted from the field, he started another fight with Jaguars offensive lineman Brandon Scherff. As he approached the tunnel, fans threw water bottles at Al-Shaair as he entered the tunnel and left the stadium.
Along with Al-Shaair, Engram and Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones — who left the sidelines when the fight broke out — were ejected from the game as well.
At halftime, Texans coach DeMeco Ryan told Fox Sports Al-Shaair’s actions were “not representative of us,” while Jaguars coach Doug Pederson called the incident a “blatant hit.”
This is not Al-Shaair’s first altercation on the football field. During the Texans’ Week 2 game against the Chicago Bears (which the Texans won), he punched running back Roschon Johnson on the sidelines. He was fined $11,817 for the hit.
As for Lawrence, he and wife Marissa Mowry are expecting their first child together after three years of marriage; they announced her pregnancy in June. In February 2023, Lawrence exclusively told Us Weekly that he and Mowry were looking forward to expanding their family — but in the future.
“I don’t know when that’s gonna be. I think we’re gonna wait a little while,” he said at the time. “We’ve really just enjoyed not having the responsibility of having kids [right now]. … I wouldn’t say near future but in the future. So, probably in the next few years. We’re just enjoying where we’re at and we wanna travel and be able to do all that before we kind of settle down.”
