Analysis: Protecting QBs from violent late hits like the one that leveled Trevor Lawrence isn't easy

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No one wants to see any player take a vicious hit like the one that knocked Trevor Lawrence out of the game.

It’s easy to agree on that point. Eliminating violent shots is the hard part.

The NFL has instituted several rules to protect quarterbacks but football is a physical sport and players have to react instantly and make split-second decisions going at high speeds so injuries keep occurring.

Lawrence was carted off the field in the first half of Jacksonville’s 23-20 loss to Houston on Sunday after Azeez Al-Shaair leveled the defenseless quarterback with a forearm to the facemask.

The late hit put Lawrence in the fencing position — both fists clenched — and he stayed on the ground for several minutes, while a brawl ensued. Lawrence didn’t require hospitalization for his concussion but it’s unknown when he’ll return.

“Thank you to everyone who has reached out/been praying for me,” Lawrence wrote on X. “I’m home and feeling better. Means a lot, thank you all.”

Al-Shaair was ejected from the game and faces a fine and potential suspension after his latest unsportsmanlike penalty. The Texans' linebacker was flagged and later fined $11,255 for a late hit out of bounds on Titans running back Tony Pollard last week.

He was fined earlier this year after he punched Bears running back Roschon Johnson on the sideline in Week 2. That occurred during a scuffle that started after his hard shot on quarterback Caleb Williams near the sideline that wasn’t flagged.

Al-Shaair once got away with grabbing Tom Brady by the throat on a pass rush in a game between the 49ers and Buccaneers.

Outraged Jaguars players called Al-Shaair’s hit “dirty” and Texans coach DeMeco Ryans made it known he didn’t condone it.

“It’s not what we’re coaching,” Ryans said. “Want to be smart in everything we do and not hurt the team, get a penalty there. Have to be smarter when the quarterback is going down. Unfortunate play. Not representative of who Azeez is. He’s a smart player, really great leader for us. We felt his presence not being there. His loss really affected us on the defensive side. Just not what we’re coaching. Didn’t want to see the melee and all the aftermath. That’s not what we’re about. Not representative of us. I’ll talk to Azeez, address him personally, and we’ll move forward from it.”

Fox Sports color analyst Daryl Johnston, a former fullback for the Dallas Cowboys, didn’t hold back his criticism, calling it a “cheap shot.”

“It’s everything you’re not supposed to do,” Johnston said. “Everything. You’ll see this in slow motion and Azeez Al-Shaair does everything you’re trying to prevent in this situation. It’s reckless. It’s disrespectful. There’s an honor that you give to your opponent on the football field and you respect him. And there’s opportunities to be physical and give big hits and play this game in that manner. And there’s other times when there’s a respect that you grant to your opponent.”

Some former NFL quarterbacks blasted Al-Shaair on social media.

“There is no place in the game of football for dirty hits like this one,” Robert Griffin III wrote on X.

Chase Daniel called it “one of the dirtiest hits” he’s ever seen on a quarterback.

Even defensive players struggled to defend Al-Shaair.

“That was uncalled for,” Hall of Fame defensive lineman Michael Strahan said on Fox’s studio show while fellow Hall of Famer Howie Long agreed.

But the play also sparked debate about the quarterback slide. Lawrence slid feet first, which signals that he’s giving himself up on the play.

The NFL rulebook states: “A defender must pull up when a runner begins a feet-first slide.”

But defensive players aren’t automatically penalized if they make contact with a sliding quarterback if they already committed and the contact is unavoidable.

The rules state it’s a foul when “the defender makes forcible contact into the head or neck area of the runner with the helmet, shoulder, or forearm, or commits some other act that is unnecessary roughness.”

Al-Shaair did that so he was penalized and will face other repercussions.

Still, given the hard-hitting nature of the sport, it won’t be the last time this happens.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Rob Maaddi, The Associated Press