Hit on Jaguars' Lawrence Used as Teaching Tool

A brutal hit knocked Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence out of last Sunday's game against the Houston Texans. The illegal hit is being used as a teaching tool around the league of what not to do.

Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) is carted off the field after sustaining a heavy hit during the second quarter of an NFL football matchup Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

On Sunday, Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence went to slide after leaving the pocket on a play against the Houston Texans. However, Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair hit Lawrence late, knocking him out of the game.

Azeez Al-Shaair was ejected, the Jaguars were penalized during the game, and the league later suspended Azeez Al-Shaair. However, the more significant issue is quarterbacks pretending to slide, then scurrying up the field for additional yardage after defenders let up. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is notorious for this.

This has left both defenders in a problematic position, as their cautiousness can diminish their aggressiveness. It also gives mobile quarterbacks an unfair advantage, as there is no remedy for quarterbacks who fake a slide only to continue up the field.

Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce explained his messaging to Raiders' defenders on the issue.

"Yeah, you just know the quarterback is golden,” Pierce said. “Can't touch [the quarterback]. They start sliding, just got to let him go, man. It is what it is. That's the rules; that's the way the game is now. Different than when I played, you go ahead and lay that guy out, but that's not how it is no more. You have to be smart. I mean hell, I got fined doing that to Michael Vick, right? 

“So, those are things down that side of the game, and you never want to see anybody get knocked out or look like how that play went. But we talk about it, we teach it, we always talk about the officials on Wednesday, what they call. But more importantly, when that quarterback is sliding, it's a no-go. Can't do it."

As a former linebacker, Pierce can identify with the strenuous task defenders face in today’s NFL: correctly making a split-second decision and then slowing down their bodies, which are already moving at full speed.

Considering how big and fast the players are, it is tough to do that. It is even harder to do now than when Pierce played, as players today are bigger, faster, and stronger than players in Pierce's era.

“I mean, it's hard because guys are running 20 miles per hour, and then also you ask them to make a last-second decision,” Pierce said. “And we talked about it. If he's a running back and he's running the ball like a running the ball like a running back, we're going to treat him as a running back. 

“But if he's doing anything where he's indicating that he’s going to go out of bounds – again, it’s a split-second decision, and a lot of these guys are not being intentional about what they're doing. You're playing a game at full speed and you're fighting for every yard, every inch, so sometimes you get put in a bad position. But we are teaching our guys to be as smart as possible when the quarterback is near the sideline.”

The Jaguars now prepare to play another game against a division opponent when they face the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. Unfortunately, they will do so without Lawrence under center.

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