The loss of Trevor Lawrence to a dirty hit is another humiliation in the Jaguars' lost season

It’s not like this hellish season for the Jacksonville Jaguars needed one final act of outrage to interrupt the worst period in franchise history.

But toward the end of the second quarter on Sunday against the Houston Texans, it happened without warning. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence, sliding to the ground at the end of a 6-yard scramble, absorbed a classless hit from Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair.

It was a hit so dirty it would make late St. Louis Cardinals guard Conrad Dobler — the NFL’s all-time king of questionable tactics — blush with embarrassment.

For the Jaguars, the consequences were devastating in several ways.

After returning to the lineup and having one last chance to salvage a glimmer of hope against the AFC South’s first-place team, Lawrence left the game for good on a golf cart with a concussion.

More:“Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence isn’t the only young quarterback driving over speed bumps in search of greatness.”

Two scuffles broke out because Al-Shaair rammed his left forearm into Lawrence’s helmet, and what followed at EverBank Stadium was further punishment for the beleaguered home fans.

The Jaguars would lose another close game 23-20 – their seventh loss of 2024 by five points or less – and have now lost six straight games to the hated Texans at EverBank.

But crediting Jacksonville with a Broncos victory on Monday Night Football after being mathematically eliminated from the playoffs (they’re already eliminated from the AFC South) is just a footnote to a much larger story.

No one can engage in quarterback head-hunting in such a monstrous manner without suffering major consequences. Al-Shair, whose reputation for his physical play is already in question, faces serious consequences from the NFL, both in the form of a fine and a suspension.

Putting Trevor’s career at risk

Al-Shaair’s despicable act, potentially jeopardizing Lawrence’s career, on a play when the quarterback gave himself up, is repeated again and again because of its horrific visuals.

While pass rushers may accidentally hit a quarterback’s head, Al-Shair had time to think about how he would make contact with Lawrence. Although No. 16 slipped to end the play, the sixth-year linebacker deliberately went for Lawrence’s head with his left forearm.

The whole sequence looked bad enough live. After it was replayed on the EverBank video boards, Al-Shaair was deservedly booed off the field.

It’s not often that two escalating brawls break out after an unacceptable hit, but the fact that the target is a franchise quarterback in a game between division rivals made for an emotionally intense atmosphere.

Jaguars tight end Evan Engram was the first to face Al-Shair, standing over him and drawing an unnecessary roughness penalty. In addition to Al-Shair’s ejection, cornerback Jarrian Jones got a shoutout for coming off the bench and hitting a Texans player.

“Yeah, I mean it was a dirty hit,” Engram said. “Of course, these goals are always questionable. Trev (Lawrence) went down. I saw it from my peripheral vision.

“I saw him slip and then I saw the hit. It just – honestly, just took over. I just knew it was wrong, it was a dirty game. And you stand up for your boys, that’s just how it is.”

What followed next was no surprise. As Lawrence lay on the grass for several minutes before leaving in a seated cart, tempers continued to heat up. Players had to be separated on two separate occasions before backup QB Mac Jones could make the next play.

“It’s a game that really has no place in our league,” Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said. “I thought the officers did a great job and tried their best to gain control of it and all of that.

“When the quarterback gets hit to that extent, it just escalates. Obviously Jarrian (Jones) is on our side, he can’t do what he did either. This is also unacceptable.”

Mac Jones triggers a slow-starting offense

Despite a pair of fisticuffs and anger over Lawrence’s departure, one small consolation was that a dormant offense was brought to life with Mac Jones in the middle. All of this came after two starts against the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings, who totaled just 13 points and 313 yards on offense.

The Jaguars scored on four of six possessions with Jones at quarterback. Another series ended with Cam Little missing a 55-yard field goal attempt to right, his first miss since Week 2 against the Cleveland Browns.

After falling behind 23-6, Jones snapped the Jaguars’ NFL-leading 25 active streak of possessions without an offensive touchdown when he connected with Parker Washington (6 catches, 103 yards) for a 22-yard score , while cornerback Kamari Lassiter had previously committed a pass interference fall.

Jones led a 10-play, 84-yard TD drive on the next series and found a wide-open Brian Thomas Jr. in the back of the end zone. After a successful two-point conversion, the Jaguars only trailed by a field goal with 3:31 left.

Of course, the Jaguars followed an empty-net game all season long as the defense failed to get the ball back. Five runs by Joe Mixon led to two first downs and took up the clock.

No NFL team has fought as consistently to stay in contention in 2024 as the Jaguars, only to find ways to come up short. This was just another lyric from the same song.

On a day when the Jaguars came together to make things briefly interesting, at least the hometown quarterback from Bolles School finally had some decent moments.

“He came in and performed,” Washington said of Jones. “It was a shame that we came up short, but we were so close. We were so close and I wish we could have gotten back into the game on offense because it really worked for us.”

The Jaguars were visibly heartened to see Lawrence grotesquely sidelined. The offensive line, in particular, kept the game moving and prevented Jones from being sacked.

“It could have gone one of two ways,” center Mitch Morse said. “I thought Mac (Jones) handled it really well. I thought the drive we put together (to end the first half), I think we got three (points) at the end. We were able to stay on the field and keep a bit of a cool head.

“It wasn’t a big fucking moment. I can’t speak for (guard) Brandon Scherff, but I’d be remiss to say it wasn’t emotionally charged. We also understood that you could use this constructively or step outside yourself, then things could have turned out even worse for us. I thought we did our best.”

Unfortunately, Texas quarterback CJ Stroud did just enough damage by tangling with Jaguars’ nemesis Nico Collins (8 catches, 119 yards) and tight end Dalton Schultz, who was left unattended on a 22-yard TD catch. teamed up to ensure the Jaguars’ elimination from the AFC South.

It’s a long five weeks ahead of us

So what else does the Jaguars have left to stay somewhat engaged for the remainder of a terrible season?

Pederson and general manager Trent Baalke, who in an oddly timed transaction received owner Shad Khan’s approval to sign left tackle Walker Little to a three-year, $45 million contract extension, are both expected to sit in the NFL’s hottest seats .

But since Khan might be content to wait until the end of the season to make any moves, this is an organization that’s leaving people confused as to why things remain status quo.

While losing NFL teams in other cities like New York, New Orleans and Chicago have already issued pink slips to their head coaches and GM, it feels like the Jaguars are almost paralyzed when it comes to hitting a reset button to press.

They still hold the No. 1 NFL Draft pick and a top-five pick seems all but certain, even if none of their remaining opponents have a track record.

Adding to that bleak outlook, the Jaguars now have to ask themselves again whether Lawrence – already dealing with a left shoulder issue that may require surgery – will return to action on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans or in subsequent games.

“It wasn’t fun for anyone to see him go down like that,” Jones said. “I just prayed for him and just prepared for the game and tried to win it for him, but we didn’t do that.”

Armed with a surprisingly lucrative NFL contract, Little couldn’t even smile at his good fortune as he left the locker room. Not after his $275 million quarterback was targeted by a ruthless enemy linebacker.

“I would say we’re pretty angry, but now we just feel for Trevor and hope he’s okay,” Little said.

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The loss of Trevor Lawrence to a dirty hit is another humiliation in the Jaguars’ lost season

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