Swinney Comments on Scary Hit Against Lawrence
By: Robert MacRae December 4, 2024

During his weekly Tuesday press conference, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney spoke about the scary hit on Trevor Lawrence.

The former Clemson star and current Jacksonville Jaguars franchise quarterback suffered a concussion when he took a vicious blow to the head and hit his head on the turf in Sunday’s game between the Jaguars and Houston Texans.

Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair was ejected after delivering the hit to Lawrence’s facemask when he was sliding to the ground in the second quarter, and Lawrence had to be carted off the field.

Swinney said Tuesday that his wife, Kathleen, instantly reached out to Lawrence’s mother after he went down with the injury.

“Actually my wife texted Amanda, his momma, right after,” Swinney said. “She saw it, I didn’t see it until after the fact.

“I think he’s going to be OK, but that was a scary situation for sure.”


Lawrence took to social media Sunday night with an update on his status after the nasty hit.

“Thank you to everyone who has reached out / been praying for me,” Lawrence wrote. “I’m home and feeling better. Means a lot, thank you all”

Al-Shaair apologized to Lawrence on Monday morning via social media.

“To Trevor i genuinely apologize to you for what ended up happening,” Al-Shaair wrote. “Before the game we spoke and I told you how great it was to see you back out on the field and wished you well. I would never want to see any player hurt because of a hit I put on them especially one that was ruled ‘late’ or ‘unnecessary.'”

Al-Shaair was suspended three games by the NFL for his hit against Lawrence.

The suspension was issued by NFL Vice President of Football Operations Jon Runyan, who wrote in a suspension letter to Al-Shaair that his hit is “unacceptable” and his “continued disregard for NFL playing rules puts the health and safety of both you and your opponents in jeopardy and will not be tolerated.”

On Monday, Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said the team has not yet decided whether Lawrence will play again this season.

In 10 games this season, the 2021 No. 1 overall pick has completed 60.6 percent of his passes for 2,045 yards with 11 touchdown passes and seven interceptions.