A collection of Bears players weren’t thrilled by the way Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair hit quarterback Caleb Williams as he was going out of bounds, and it led to a small scuffle that even included Al-Shaair throwing a punch.
Neither Al-Shaair nor anyone else was flagged for unnecessary roughness — or anything else — during the exchange, which occurred midway through the third quarter of the Bears-Texans game on “Sunday Night Football.”
After the Bears were flagged for a false start, they faced a first-and-15 from their own 45-yard line, and Williams attempted to run near the right sideline — but before he could make it to the line of scrimmage, Al-Shaair knocked him out of bounds.
Nearly a dozen Bears players, both those on the field and in that area of the sideline, sprinted over and surrounded Al-Shaair, and when he jumped up, the 27-year-old ended up throwing a right-handed punch at the face of backup running back Roschon Johnson.
That punch didn’t stop the scuffle, either, as a collection of Bears and Texans ended up exchanging shoves before officials broke it up.
“And nobody’s happy over there,” NBC play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico said at one point during the shoving.
The Bears eventually ended the drive with a punt a few snaps later, though they were able to stay within striking distance of Texans for most of the game before Houston added a field goal early in the fourth quarter to take a nine-point lead.
Most of the Bears’ offseason, preseason and opening two weeks of the regular season has revolved around Williams, who they selected with the No. 1 overall pick in April’s draft.
He escaped with a victory in his NFL debut, despite completing 14-of-29 passes for just 93 yards against the Titans in Week 1, but replicating that result against the Texans was a difficult task for the rookie signal-caller.
Williams threw two interceptions and led just one touchdown drive as of the midway point of the fourth quarter.
His Bears teammates, though, still made sure to stand up for their quarterback after what they considered an unnecessary hit.