Jaguars
Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence tweeted out a comment following his exit from the game against the Texans, which saw Houston LB Azeez Al-Shaair ejected for a hit that concussed him.
“Thank you to everyone who has reached out and been praying for me. I’m home and feeling better. Means a lot, thank you all!”
Meanwhile, Al-Shaair issued an apology Monday morning on social media.
“I’ve always played the game as hard as I could. Never with the intent to harm anyone and anybody that knows me knows that,” Al-Shaair wrote. “My goal is to hit you as hard as I can then I pray you’re still able to get up and play the next play. And when the game is over go home to your family unharmed because it’s not personal it’s just competition! We both are trying to do the same thing which is provide for our families! I genuinely didn’t see him sliding until it was too late. And it all happens in the blink of an eye. To Trevor [I] genuinely apologize to you for what ended up happening. Before the game, we spoke and I told you how it was great 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’s deemed ‘late’ or ‘unnecessary.’ To the rest of his teammates, I can definitely understand you having his back and defending him in a situation like that. To the rest of the people who I’ve been called every single name in the book from reporters with their hands ready for a story to find their [villain], to racist and Islamophobic fans and people, you don’t know my heart nor my character which I don’t need to prove to any of you. God knows my intentions and anyone who has ever been a teammate or friend of mine knows my heart.”
Texans
Texans RB Joe Mixon had a big game against a division rival in Week 13 and drew praise from his offensive line as well as HC DeMeco Ryans.
“It’s everything because when you are put in gotta-have-it situations you’ve got to deliver,” Mixon said, via Aaron Wilson of Click2Houston. “You’ve got to do whatever you can to show up for your brothers. I tell them boys, ‘Just give me a crease, I’m going to find it, I’m going to make you right.’ Those boys, they were locked in. Third-and-five, you know it’s coming, they knew it was coming. They knew where it was coming from. To be able to dominate and come out on top and be able to convert a 3rd-and-5, that’s will and want-to. That’s grit. That’s imposing our will and I’m glad we were able to convert and finish strong.”
“Joe, man, you talk about a guy who plays with the relentless mindset, the tenacity that you need,” Ryans mentioned when asked about Mixon. “Joe is an old-school running back. He is the guy that wants it 30 times and keeps getting better the more touches he gets. Really proud of him to know he’s hurting and still push through, still churn out yards when they’re loading the box and to still be able to find a way to get yards. It’s really impressive by our line. I thought our tight ends, can’t say enough about the way they blocked as well. I thought they did an outstanding job blocking and Joe ran it really well.”
Mixon told reporters that he gave it his all physically and also gave credit to everyone who blocked for him as he rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown that sealed the victory.
“Empty the tank, strain, empty the tank,” Mixon commented. “Credit to Slow to call a 3rd-and-5 run to end the game like that, bro, it was a hell of a thing. I’m just glad we were able to put it on ice. Hey, I got to put it on tape. I got to put it on the line for my guys. Hey, we played a 60-minute game, a divisional game and we needed it. When we need it most, that’s when you put your best (stuff) on tape. I’m just glad we was able to close it out in running fashion. To be honest, bro, credit to them: the linemen, the tight ends, the receivers, the fullbacks. They bust their (butts). We know you’re going to make it right. All week, we talked about running backs and linemen and combinations and Slow was harping on staying in phase. The fact we was able to block, running the football, they was throwing all kinds of looks, everything on a play sheet to try to stop the run. I just felt like we did a hell of a job owning what was called. Everybody was out there making blocks and me being able to make a play.”
Titans
Titans HC Brian Callahan was upset with the team’s effort following their ninth loss of the season against the Commanders.
“All the way around, nothing was good enough today,” Callahan said, via the team website. “That was tough to watch, to start the game. … Just too many negative things, all the way around. We have to do a lot of things better if we want to beat good teams on the road, and that wasn’t it. It’s crushing, to be honest. I didn’t think we were going to look like that today. I’m disappointed in that. I’m disappointed in myself. I thought we were making some strides, and we’d come play really good against a good football team on the road again, and we didn’t do that.”
Titans DL Jeffery Simmons was asked about the defense’s lack of ability to get stops as they gave up 42 points on the day.
“We were hungover from our success last week, and that showed in the first half,” Simmons said. “The signs of it started in the first half. We saw that. We were flat, we were turning over the ball, we couldn’t stop anything they were doing. From top to bottom, we had no answers. At the end of the day, we have to be able to handle success.”
Titans QB Will Levis told reporters that the team needs to limit their mistakes after turning the ball over twice and being penalized 12 times for 93 yards.
“We just have to keep going, that’s all we can do,” Levis noted. “We just keep finding different ways to shoot ourselves in the foot. It’s hard to come back starting out like that, and expect to get going.”
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