By Christopher Garcia
A few days after the season-ending hit that Trevor Lawrence received from Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson defended his team, stating “We’re not out to hurt anybody. We’re not out to ruin careers.”
“We’re out to win a football game and play hard within the rules. That’s our job. That’s how we coach it, that’s how we play it,”
Pederson stated at a team press conference. “If they’re asking or suggesting we go after someone, we’re not doing that. Flat out, we are not doing that. It’s not how I coach. It’s not how I’m going to coach these teams, these players. We’re just going to go out and do our jobs. Play hard, play fast, play physical within the rules.” “Azeez is a really, really good guy. A pure football player as I have ever known,” says Richard Sherman on the Richard Sherman podcast.
“I think that when people start to get to a space where calling players dirty and acting like he intended to hurt somebody, like get out of here. We can hurt people in this game. Understand that. Understand that please fans. If we want to hurt people, they will be hurt, and it doesn’t have to be a sliding quarterback.”
A positive response from the legendary wide receiver, shows the realization of the difficulty it takes to make decisions in the milliseconds the game requires. It is entirely frustrating to hear naive fans bring in unnecessary trash talking with the idea of religion being relevant, just really makes the situation worse.
“When you are going to commit to hitting, it comes with violent intentions. Watch him play the game. That’s how he plays. It happens. Trevor understands what he signed up for and what could potentially happen if he slid late. Just stop, man. This game has gotten soft,” says Sherman and it is a valid point.
NFL veteran cornerback Jalen Collins on the RAW Room podcast exclaimed that “It was a late hit! There is no way you could flip that, and I am sure his intention wasn’t to F his brain up, but you gotta send an apology out,” which Azeez did.
“It was an obvious slide and a move that was manipulated by the quarterbacks to get extra yards,” It is the game they play, and violence is the aroma in the air. Decisions are made in seconds, sometimes less time and consequences are vital and potentially fatal. Lawrence is done for the season, and with understanding Azeez appealed the 3-game suspension with pride stating,”IF you want me to be your villain, i’ll be your villain! See you soon,” with a picture of the Joker, which comes off as unapologetic, respectively.
The greatest quarterback ever, Tom Brady had his 2 cents to put in on the GET UP show this Thursday morning on ESPN, explaining “There is an aspect to me that I think the quarterbacks need to take better care of themselves.
I see Josh Allen running a lot. I see Lamar Jackson running a lot. When you do that, I don’t think the onus of protecting an offensive quarterback who’s running should be on a defensive player. I don’t think that is really far for the defense.” If Azeez really wanted to be dirty, he would have led with his head. The concussion occured when the head of Lawrence hit the turf. It is the nature of the game, a cold nature. Azeez led with his forearm, the casual form a hit like that requires.
“Certainly for Trevor Larence, nobody wants to see players get hurt, but it is also the reality of the physical game we play. The quarterbacks need to learn how to take care of themselves,” and this is coming from the greatest QB to play the game. It was late slide and what is Azeez supposed to do? Defensive players have to be aggressive and this is the nature in how the game is played.
