The Week 13 game between the Jacksonville Jaguars against the Houston Texans had no shortage of plotlines, but the cheap shot Azeez Al-Shaair laid on Trevor Lawrence dominated the conversation. The hit led to a scuffle on the Jags sideline, and several players wasted no time rushing to their quarterback's defense. Among them was cornerback Jarrian Jones, who was ejected, alongside Al-Shaair.
Jones was disqualified from the game after punching a Texans player. While you never want to condone that kind of response, his reaction was understandable when you take into account that Al-Shaair actively tried to hurt Lawrence.
Like right guard Brandon Scherff, tight end Evan Engram, and wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., Jones wanted to stand up for a teammate of his. You would think that head coach Doug Pederson would be pleased to see his players rush to Lawrence's defense after Al-Shaair knocked him out. However, that wasn't the case.
Pederson told the local media after the 23-20 loss that neither Al-Shaair's actions nor Jones' response thereafter were acceptable.
"You see it at every level of football, right?" Pederson responded when asked what his reaction was after Al-Shaair knocked Lawrence. "When the quarterback gets hit, at that magnitude, it just escalates and Jarrian [Jones] on our side. He can't do what he did either, right? That's just unacceptable as well. And I know the league will probably send out fines for both players and maybe some others."
Pederson continued, "But again, when you see that, yes, and plus, it's a division game, right? It's an emotional football game as it is, but at the same time, you have to be the bigger person. You got to be the bigger man in situations like that. Just fortunate that, you know nobody else was ejected from the
game."
Even though Pederson is right you never want to see a brawl during an NFL game, once it ensued, Jones was just trying to look out for his teammate. In the heat of the moment, he wasted no time coming to his defense.
Of course, the head coach is speaking with the benefit of hindsight and once the scuffle had taken place. It's easy for him to say that the young player should be the bigger person, and cooler minds should prevail. But even if he were right, he didn't have to call Jones out publicly. Why not wait until things cool down to have a face-to-face talk with his player and explain to him how he could act in case such a situation happens again?
Austin Lane calls out the Jaguars and Doug Pederson's lack of pride
Local voice and former Jaguars player Austen Lane had an exchange with Brent Martineau on Action Sports Jax. They expressed disapproval of the approach head coach Doug Pederson took when Trevor Lawrence got hit, pointing out that a team must show pride when one of their players gets hurt.
"At the end of the day, it's football, Brent," Lane said. "And it doesn't matter if you played the game or not. You've been on the sidelines. You know how violent it is, and I get there's rules in place now, and there's fines that want to clean up the game. That's great because player longevity is important, and I understand all that."
"But at the end of the day, when one of your own gets taken out like that, there's some teams in the NFL that have pride, whether they're in playoff contention or they don't want a game yet, well, they'll try to make it right. I think there's some teams. I'm not going to say what teams they are, but I know, like when I played, where if that would have happened and a player went after another player, the coach, the GM, the owner, would have took care of the fine."
"Because this is a disappointing thing. Post-game press conference, guys that I hold in high regard are talking about money. We're talking about fines. We're talking about gotta be smart up."
In case it wasn't clear, Lane isn't advocating for players to hurt opposing teams, but rather that the Jaguars failed to stand up for Trevor Lawrence after Azeez Al-Shaair knocked him out. Martineau agreed, pointing out that he was disappointed in how the team conducted itself in the aftermath of the hit.
Conversation in the #Jaguars locker room postgame about fines that could have been handed down in retaliation to the hit on Trevor Lawrence "disappointed" @BrentASJax and @A_Train_92 pic.twitter.com/IVQJYoNRSz
— BrentDanStuartMarcelAlivia (@ActionSportsJax) December 2, 2024
Team reporter Bucky Brooks caught wind of the exchange and agreed with both Lane and Martineau, noting that teams will now target Trevor Lawrence knowing the Jaguars won't retaliate.
This take is spot on… The franchise QB was knocked out and it was handled with a collective shrug. Most teams would’ve enacted some form of vigilante justice to ensure that kind of hit didn’t happen again. Now, every future opponent knows they can take shots without fear of… https://t.co/0gCf3ZVZ7e
— Bucky Brooks (@BuckyBrooks) December 2, 2024
Like Lane, Brooks is a former player and knows how locker rooms operate, so it's fair to say that they're in a position to judge how the Jaguars reacted to Lawrence getting hit.
When you look at their 2-10 record and inability to win close games, maybe the Jacksonville Jaguars are missing the edge Austen Lane is talking about. When you take into account that a team is a reflection of their head coach, Doug Pederson deserves the blame for the inadequate response to the Azeez Al-Shaair hit, as such, you can add it to the list of reasons why he needs to go.