Jaguars
Jaguars HC Doug Pederson said the team will take everything into consideration, including “where we are as a team” when determining when QB Trevor Lawrence will return.
“You gotta take it all into consideration obviously and make a smart choice,” Pederson said, via PFT.
Ravens
Ravens HC John Harbaugh said the team has no plans to move on from K Justin Tucker.
“If you’re asking me are we going to move on from Justin Tucker, I’m not really planning on doing that right now,” Harbaugh said, via Around The NFL.
Tucker owned his misses but didn’t get into the specifics of why he’s been off his game this season.
“Simple as I can put it, I missed the kicks, and I’ll leave it at that,” Tucker said. “I just let points out there. I feel like I cost us this one. But it doesn’t really do anybody any good to dwell on it. The only thing that we can do — that I can do — is continue to work. Move forward, take it one kick at a time.”
Texans
Texans HC DeMeco Ryans defended LB Azeez Al-Shaair after his late hit on Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence that will likely see him suspended.
“He’s an exceptional leader for us,” Ryans said, via PFT. “Azeez is a really good player, and he plays the game the right way. His intent is never to hurt anyone as he’s playing the game. If anybody knows Azeez and talks to Azeez, nobody with a bigger heart than Azeez. This guy is a special guy I’ve known since 2019. Special young man. Love working with him. For any picture that’s painted that Azeez is a dirty player or doing something intentional, that’s the exact opposite of what Azeez is. People who know Azeez, they know him. They know how he plays the game. Yes, he plays it fast. He plays it physical. Sometimes that physical nature gets misunderstood in today’s game.”
Ryans said that he hopes Lawrence is OK, but stood behind Al-Shaair and said that his intent was never malicious.
“With the entire situation, we stand behind Azeez and everything that came from that,” Ryans said. “Of course, the unfortunate hit on the quarterback, but it’s also two-fold. A lot of the quarterbacks in this day and age they try to take advantage of the rule where they slide late and they try to get an extra yard, and you’re a defender, and a lot of onus is on the defender, whether it’s on the sideline or on the quarterback. You don’t know what a guy is thinking. You don’t know if a guy is staying up and he’s continuing to run, and then you get a late slide, and you hit the guy. Unfortunate that Trevor got hurt. We hope Trevor is OK. But it’s also if we’re sliding we’ve got to get down; if we’re getting out of bounds, we get out of bounds. That rule is there to protect the quarterbacks and we want our quarterbacks to be safe in the league. The entire thing is Azeez hits the guy, but their sideline overreacts and it turns into a melee. It wasn’t our guys. Their team overreacted, pushed our guy, dragging our guy to the sideline, so that’s uncalled for on that side. We have to be better on the sideline.”
- Texans GM Nick Caserio is upset about Al-Shaair’s suspension, calling it “bullshit” how they speak of his character and that “there’s no consistency” with the penalties. (DJ Bien-Aime)
- Caserio said they are “absolutely not” thinking about moving on from OC Bobby Slowik as the playcaller. (Bien-Aime)
The post AFC Notes: Azeez Al-Shaair, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Tucker, Jaguars, Ravens, Texans appeared first on NFLTradeRumors.co.