Texans' Azeez Al-Shaair finally speaks after brutal hit on Trevor Lawrence

The big story from the Houston Texans' win over the Jacksonville Jaguars wasn't that the Texans won the game to move to 8-5 or how they won the game (or nearly lost it). The big story ended up happening in the second quarter when Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence was running for a first down, slid after converting, and was hit hard in the head by Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair.

The hit led to Jags players running over and starting a full-on brawl and eventually Al-Shaair and at least one Jaguars player were ejected from the game. Al-Shaair definitely deserved to be ejected and has been getting roasted (rightfully so) for his hit on Lawrence.

Speaking of Lawrence, the former number-one overall pick remained down after the hit and did not return to the game. It was Lawrence's first game back in nearly a month.

Following the game, Texans head coach spoke about his disappointment with his linebacker while Al-Shaair refused to speak with the media. On Monday morning, the linebacker finally spoke up about the controversial hit.

Azeez Al-Shaair apologizes for late hit on Trevor Lawrence

Al-Shaair starts out by saying that his goal is to hit people and then hope they're still healthy afterwards. This part seems more like him saying "I'm sorry if you're offended but this is my job" rather than actually seeming sorry for what he did.

The good thing is that Al-Shaair did apologize to Lawrence for the nasty hit, noting that he didn't see the quarterback sliding until it was too late (that's up to you if you want to believe him or not). He said he spoke with Lawrence before the game about how he was happy to see him back on the field.

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Al-Shaair also addresses the Jaguars players who stood up for Lawrence and says he understood them coming to their quarterback's defense. He finishes his statement by calling out everyone else (including reporters) who have called him "every single name in the book".

While Al-Shaair might be genuinely sorry for what he did to Lawrence, this isn't the first time that he's been involved in something like this. The Texans linebacker had a big hit on Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams that led to him getting in an altercation with Roschon Johnson and Darnell Wright.

At this point, Al-Shaair is living up to his reputation as a dirty player and this statement isn't going to change anyone's mind.