HOUSTON – In the hours before and after kickoff Sunday, Texans veteran linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair was full of energy, passion and purpose as he roamed the football field.
Other than a fast stop on his way to the locker room to catch up with Ran Carthon, his former general manager with the Tennessee Titans and Carthon’s family, Al-Shaair was all-business in his return to play after being reinstated following a three-game NFL suspension for a controversial, concussion-causing hit on Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence that he has previously thoroughly addressed.
Recommended Videos
During the Texans’ tune-up before an AFC wild-card round playoff game Saturday against the Los Angeles Chargers at NRG Stadium, Al-Shaair resumed his role as a team captain and defensive signal caller. And he shed the rust he accumulated during his time away from the game, recording two tackles while playing just 25 snaps for 40 percent of the total defensive playing time before coach DeMeco Ryans substituted for him.
“I felt good, man, just to be back out there with the guys,” Al-Shaair said. “You know, definitely, like a little nervous. I had a little anxiety. I didn’t think I was going to feel like that. I got into the flow of things. I feel good.”
Now, the AFC South champion Texans and Al-Shaair have shifted their focus and are gathering their knowledge about the Los Angeles Chargers and strategizing about how to attack an offense led by standout quarterback Justin Herbert, a strong offensive line and wide receivers Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnston.
Al-Shaair, signed to a three-year, $34 million free agent deal during the offseason to reunite with Ryans, his position coach and defensive coordinator with the San Francisco 49ers, is accustomed to the pressure and prestige of the playoffs. He has plenty of big-game experience and a proven track record.
It’s players like Al-Shaair that the Texans lean on heavily for leadership in these kind of high-profile matchups as a solidly built, steady Chargers team transformed under the stewardship of coach Jim Harbaugh comes to town.
'It felt good to be back out there with the guys' #Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair after first game back from #NFL suspension. He was surprised to feel some nervousness @KPRC2https://t.co/rJHc3dGR7M
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) January 5, 2025
Texans Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon said it’s about being a dangerous team in the playoffs and showing what a 10-7 team is truly capable of after an up-and-down regular season.
“I think when you can talk about having a dangerous team the thing about the playoffs and it doesn’t matter what you’ve done all year long,” Al-Shaair said. “It’s just one game. I don’t care, whatever it takes. I don’t care if it’s the offense scoring 100 points and the defense giving up 99, as long as we get one more point than them or if it’s, you know, 0 to 2, whatever the score may be, the biggest thing is coming out with a dub and then you can go to the next week. So, I think we’re equipped because we’re willing to do whatever it takes to get the win.”
Having the opportunity to put the embarrassment of a 31-2 beatdown at the hands of the AFC North champion Baltimore Ravens was a significant moment for Al-Shaair and the Texans. He didn’t play in that game, but it definitely bothered him to see what unfolded.
“I think the biggest thing is we talk about what happened on the Christmas Day, like if that was the last time you touched the football field before the playoffs,” Al-Shaair said. “I think a lot of the postseason, just from my years of playing, it was about the swagger, the confidence. And that was a day where it wasn’t much swag and it wasn’t much confidence coming out of that.
“So, I think whenever you have everybody being able to come together and put better things on tape and build up that confidence for every player, you know, you have a whole bunch of guys playing today who, you know, didn’t get a lot of reps all year long. So for them. You know, just to build off that confidence as a whole, I think it helps you tremendously in the postseason.”
Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke pointed out that Al-Shaair emphasized behind the scenes how unacceptable that game was and how far below the standard that kind of performance was to him and everyone in the building.
“We talked about that a lot,” Al-Shaair said. “I said a lot of things and a lot about just playing for the guys and the people. I was in there. I think obviously what you saw, you know, on Christmas Day was embarrassing for everybody. I think that when I came back out here and, you know, building up that momentum, you just talked about getting into the postseason so we can play our best and be at our best when it counts.”
The pressure cooker of do-or-die moments, of the finality of the postseason with a loss, those are all things Al-Shaair embraces. He loves these pivotal moments.
“It’s the National Football League, it’s the most pressure you’re going to ever get playing football,” Al-Shaair said. “It’s just all eyes on you, always. I think for me it’s the fun part and I enjoy it more because half the teams in the league are at home and everybody has to watch you, whether you like it or not.
“For me, that’s the fun part and that little pressure that you kind of like. I think just play our brand of football, our style, obviously, and swarm. And that’s the purest form of what we want to do. I think a lot of it is about what we do. It always comes back to what do we do or not do. It always starts with our group and our team first.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com
