CNN
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Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans defended Azeez Al-Shaair after the linebacker was ejected from Sunday’s game for throwing a late hit on Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

Ryans said Monday the team stands behind the 6-year player and said the incident needs to be looked at from both sides.

“We’re not intentionally trying to hurt anyone, but I think there’s an overreaction when someone gets hurt, but we just have to look at everything from all perspectives.

“A lot of quarterbacks these days try to take advantage of the rule that they slip late and try to get an extra yard. And now that you’re a defense attorney, there’s a lot of responsibility on the defense attorney, right?”

Ryans added: “Unfortunately Trevor was injured. We hope Trevor is doing well.

“But – it’s also the case that if we slip, we have to slip. When we get out of bounds, we get out of bounds. This rule is to protect quarterbacks and we want our quarterbacks to be safe in the league, so we just have to play it safe and slide, make sure we keep our heads down.”

Ryans said Al-Shair played the game “the right way” and never intended to harm another player.

“Any image that conveys that Azeez is a dirty player or does something intentional is the exact opposite of who Azeez is.”

“People who know Azeez know him, they know how he plays the game.

“Yes, he plays it fast, he plays it physical and sometimes that physical nature is misunderstood in today’s game.”

Previously, Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson was asked what he thought would be an appropriate punishment for Al-Shaair. Peterson referred to the skirmishes and fights at several NCAA football games on Saturday.

“I think the league will deal with situations like this as they arise. Just look at what even happened in college football, some of those rivalry games and things like that over the weekend. It’s unfortunate because it escalates to a level that doesn’t necessarily have to be on the field.

“We have a high status. We’re in the National Football League. Defend the shield. All that stuff. We have to find a way as a league to somehow minimize these plays or at least remove them from the game if possible,” Pederson said.

It is standard practice for the NFL to review a hit like Al-Shair’s for possible disciplinary action, with prior rule violations being part of the consideration, a league source told CNN on Monday.

The Texans now have a bye week and will play the Miami Dolphins again on December 15th.