HOUSTON — Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair was suspended by the NFL for three games for a hit he put on Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence on Sunday and it didn't sit well with some of the team's brass.
If the suspension holds, Al-Shaair will miss Houston's next three games -- a home game against the Dolphins, a road tilt against the Chiefs and a Christmas Day matchup with the Ravens at NRG Stadium. According to NFL experts, Al-Shaair is appealing the suspension.
The league's decision particularly didn't sit well with Texans General Manager Nick Caserio, who spoke to the media on Tuesday and didn't hold back when talking about what he thought about the suspension.
"I think that's all teams ask for is consistency from the league and I'd say in this situation, I mean, quite frankly, there's no consistency at all relative to the level of discipline that's been handed down," Caserio said. "And for the league to make some of the commentary that they made about lack of sportsmanship, lack of coachability, lack of paying attention to the rules, quite frankly, it's embarrassing."
Caserio pointed out a few other instances this year that didn't seem to match up with the level of discipline Al-Shaair received, including a player who was ejected from a game and played the following week as well as a player who was ejected and was only suspended one game. He pointed out that Al-Shaair had never been ejected from a game or suspended before Sunday's game in Jacksonville.
"We're talking about a player who's never been suspended, never been ejected. So now we're saying that he's going to be suspended for three games?" Caserio said. "I think the big thing from our standpoint, and all teams want, is just some level of consistency. And we've talked to the league, quite frankly, but we don't have a good explanation."
Caserio was particularly upset with the attack on Al-Shaair's character and his intentions.
"I mean, this morning he was at a United Way event," Caserio said. "So we're talking about some of the commentary that has been made about his character, about the person that he is, about what his intentions are, from people that, quite frankly, don't know anything about Azeez Al-Shaair."
Caserio said it was "embarrassing" to hear the slander about Al-Shaair's character. He said people who say those things about him don't know what they're talking about.
"But I think where we take umbrage is just the picture that's been painted about Azeez, his intentions, who he is as a person. I mean, it's quite frankly bull**** and it's unfair to the individual, it's unfair to the organization. We love everything about Azeez Al-Shaair -- what he means to this team, what he brings to this team. He was elected a captain after being here for four months," Caserio said. "Nobody embodies our program more than Azeez -- what he's about, what he's been through. You all know his story but (there's) not a more selfless individual, more about the team, who's earned the respect that represents everything that we want this program to be about."