Bill Romanowski Says Al-Shaair's Trevor Lawrence Hit Was 'Dirty,' But 'I Loved It'

Bill Romanowski says the hit Azeez Al-Shaair laid on Trevor Lawrence over the weekend was "abso-fricken-lutely" a dirty one ... but in true Romo fashion, he tells TMZ Sports he "loved" it!!!

The play unfolded in the second quarter of the Texans' tilt with the Jaguars on Sunday ... as Jacksonville's star quarterback was running for a first down.

Lawrence sprinted about 10 yards, and when he saw Al-Shaair closing in, he started to slide. But the Texans linebacker didn't hit the brakes -- and plowed right through the former Clemson signal-caller's head.

The play resulted in a bad injury for Lawrence, a huge brawl, and, on Tuesday, a three-game suspension for Al-Shaair.

Romanowski told us just after the NFL hit the Houston tackler with the ban that he really felt for Al-Shaair, noting the situation was a bang-bang, hard-to-avoid one.

But, he did relent it was "dirty."

Of course, as an inside linebacker who gained a reputation over the years for bending the on-field rules, he added, "I loved it!!!"

"But," he said, "it was dirty."

Al-Shaair will have the opportunity to appeal his suspension -- and given the way Texans general manager Nick Caserio slammed the NFL for its ruling, it seems that'll be likely.

Either way, though, Romanowski said his advice to Al-Shaair from here would be to not let off the gas going forward ... but just "control it a little bit" better.

"The last thing you want to do is take that aggression away from your defense," he said. "Because he's a tone-setter. That's what he is. You don't want to take that away."