Trevor Lawrence reassured fans that he is recovering well at home after taking a brutal hit to the head in the Jaguars’ loss to the Texans on Sunday afternoon.
The Jacksonville QB was on the end of a huge tackle from Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair that left him motionless on the field and sparked a bench-clearing brawl.
Al-Shaair was ejected from the game and Lawrence was carted off the field, and the latter has now given fans an eagerly-anticipated health update.
Posting on X, Lawrence said: ‘Thank you to everyone who has reached out / been praying for me. I’m home and feeling better. Means a lot, thank you all.’
In the incident, Lawrence was running for a first down and slid to give himself up on the play. Al-Shaair did not pull up and made a vicious hit to the upper body and helmet of the quarterback.
As soon as the hit was delivered, tight end Evan Engram began shoving Al-Shaair, with several others from both teams involved in the scrum seconds later.
Trevor Lawrence was rocked by a brutal hit to the helmet from linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair
Medics rushed to his aid and held his neck in place before he was carted off the field
The play sparked a brawl between both sets of players in Jacksonville, and Al-Shaair was ejected
Lawrence stayed down and was immediately helped by medics before eventually being carted off. He was sat up and alert as he was taken back to the locker room for further assessment.
The talented QB, 25, was ruled out of the game soon after with a concussion, and Mac Jones replaced him under center.
Jacksonville’s Jarrian Jones was also ejected from the game, while Engram was assessed a 15-yard penalty for being the first to engage Al-Shaair in a fight.
A few hours after the game, eagle-eyed NFL fans spotted a political message on Al-Shaair’s cleats, sparking more controversy after the hit.
The Tampa-born NFL star, 27, had ‘Free’ written on the outside of his cleats in red and green Palestine colors, with messages written on the side.
On one cleat, it read: ‘Surely to Allah we belong and to him we will all return,’ while the other said: ‘At least 41,788 Palestinians killed. 10,000+ estimated to be under the rubble. 96,794 wounded.’
Al-Shaair wore pro-Palestine cleats on Sunday, before being ejected for fighting
Al-Shaair is a practicing Muslim, and he joined the Texans in March on a three-year, $34million contract.
Taking to X, many NFL fans piled in on the player for using the sport to share his political views, with one writing: ‘Ooh now I really hate him.’
Another urged the NFL to suspend him, but others defended him and wrote: ‘Religion of peace.’
Yet more fans brought up Nick Bosa’s recent fine for wearing a Donald Trump MAGA hat and speculated over the punishment Al-Shaair will face for his own political message.