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Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio is sticking up for Azeez Al-Shaair following his controversial hit on Trevor Lawrence … saying the NFL “embarrassed” itself with how it handled the incident.
Caserio met with reporters Tuesday morning … and took issue with not only the three-game suspension handed down hours ago — but also how the Shield took aim at Al-Shaair’s character in a letter written by VP of Football Operations Jon Runyan.
“For the league to make some of the commentary that he made about lack of sportsmanship, lack of coachability, lack of paying attention to the rules, quite frankly, it’s embarrassing,” Caserio said.
“What we take umbrage is the picture painted about Azeez, his intentions, who he is as a person; quite frankly it’s bulls***.”
Caserio also called out the league for lacking stability in handling these issues … highlighting how a player like Derwin James was suspended one game for a late hit — but a player like Brian Branch was able to play the very next week after a similar incident.
“I think the big thing from our standpoint, and all teams want this, is some level of consistency,” he said. “And we’ve talked to the league; quite frankly, we don’t have a good explanation. [Head coach] DeMeco [Ryans] talked to them yesterday. It is what it is.”
It’s unknown if Al-Shaair is appealing the suspension … but the six-year NFL veteran apologized for his hit on Monday — saying he had no intention of hurting Lawrence.