HOUSTON — Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair will serve a three-game suspension. His appeal was denied Wednesday.
Al-Shaair made a late hit on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence during Sunday's game.
Note: The video above was published Tuesday.
Al-Shaair appealed his suspension. Ramon Foster, one of the appeals officers jointly appointed by the NFL and NFLPA, confirmed the suspension.
Houston has four games remaining in the regular season. This week is a bye week. Al-Shaair will miss games against the Dolphins, Chiefs and Ravens before returning to the team to face the Titans.
Al-Shaair posted a response to the suspension Wednesday evening on X, saying "IF YOU WANT ME TO BE YOUR VILLAIN, ILL BE YOUR VILLAIN SEE YOU SOON…" The post included a middle finger emoji.
The post included a collage of four photos. One photo was Al-Shaair in uniform, one showed a cleat with the word "Free" drawn on the side, a photo of Joaquin Phoenix as the "Joker," and one photo with a white background and black text saying, "There is beauty in being rejected, misunderstood, unseen and unprotected by people. It teaches you to rely on Allah for everything."
What happened after the hit
Al-Shaair apologized on social media saying, in part:
“To Trevor, I genuinely apologize to you for what ended up happening. I would never want to see any player hurt because of a hit I put on them especially one that’s deemed ‘late’ or ‘unnecessary.’”
Texans General Manager Nick Caserio stood up for Al-Shaair, giving a frank interview to reporters Tuesday.
"Quite frankly, there's no consistency at all relative to the level of discipline that's been handed down," Caserio said.
"I mean, it's quite frankly bull**** and it's unfair to the individual, it's unfair to the organization," Caserio said later in the interview.
Al-Shaair said he "genuinely didn’t see him sliding" until it was too late to pull up.
After the hit, a bench-clearing fight started as Lawrence remained down on his back on the field. Lawrence was eventually carted off to the locker room.
Lawrence was placed on injured reserve Wednesday. Adam Schefter said on X, "His season looks to be done."