Clowney mystery not yet big deal
I would not use the word “panic.”
But serious concern? Local and national worry? Constant questions and criticism?
Sure, all that and more, if this was the beginning of Jadeveon Clowney’s NFL career and so many were already doubting the professional devotion of the No. 1 overall pick of the 2014 draft.
Clowney missed OTAs while J.J. Watt is on the mend (again) and Deshaun Watson is coming back from a season-ending ACL tear?
Clowney missed the beginning of a mandatory veteran minicamp, due to a somewhat mysterious knee injury the Texans haven’t fully addressed? Oh, no. Not again. But this isn’t 2014 or ’15. And after four seasons, 158 combined tackles, 20 sacks and some of the most droolworthy defensive plays in this football decade, I find it more than a little fascinating that the Texans are set to go
through all of their pre-training camp workouts with No. 90 M.I.A. from public sight.
There’s a huge contract extension that’s still theoretically sitting somewhere near the edge of the negotiation table.
We still haven’t seen the full force of Watt and Clowney together, four-plus years after the Texans made the latter the first building block of the Bill O’Brien era. And despite the 2017 campaign marking the first time Clowney played all 16 regular-season games, his absence from offseason workouts has received little attention.
“I think he’s doing OK,” O’Brien said at the end of May. “He’s in there with the medical team, trying to get better. He’s in the meetings and things like that. I think he’s progressing.”
Is there a timetable for his return?
“I don’t know,” O’Brien said. “I wouldn’t say he’ll be in any OTAs, but probably training camp.” I think. I don’t know. Probably. We’ve clearly come a long way with Clowney — those would have been talk-radio fighting words a few years ago — and the Texans obviously have faith that one of their most critical players will be 100 percent again when it actually matters.
“It’s hard to tell because he is rehabbing,” said defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, when asked about Clowney’s on-field growth. “I know that he’s working with the trainers and he’s doing a good job with those guys.
“We won’t know until we get him back on the field.”
Watson’s ahead-of-schedule return is obviously overshadowing Clowney’s absence. Heck, waiting on the Week 1 activation of the Texans’ 22-year-old franchise QB is even obscuring Watt’s gradual road back to full health.
One of the biggest names in the history of Houston sports has played just eight games the last two seasons. But you rarely hear Watt’s name mentioned in strict football-speak right now. And, like you, I have no idea what No. 99 will look like between the lines — and how long he will last — in 2018.
I know this: A team that went 4-12 last season could become one of the NFL’s biggest turnaround squads this year if Watson, Watt and Clowney can sync up at once.
Watt earned his life-changing payday in 2014. Watson is just touching his initial rookie contract and could wear the same uniform his entire career.
Clowney’s extension intrigues me. He obviously deserves another long-term deal. But partly because of his injury-troubled NFL beginning, he doesn’t deserve to break the Texans’ bank or re-establish the league’s financial ceiling.
The fact that some national reporters kept teasing a Clowney mega extension in March — it’s now mid-June — tells you something. Then again, DeAndre Hopkins’ 2017 payday didn’t arrive until the final day of August.
We’ve seen two Pro Bowl seasons in four years from Clowney; he was second-team All-Pro in 2016. But we’re still waiting to see consistent, No. 1 pick domination at the same time that the Texans are consistently dominating the opposition.
The former South Carolina star recorded career highs in starts (16), fumble recoveries (three), sacks (9½) and combined tackles (59) last season. There were times when Clowney was the best player on the field. But his team only recorded four measly victories and he didn’t make an All-Pro squad.
If I’m the Texans, I want to see No. 90 at full roar in training camp before Bob McNair starts writing huge checks for Watt, Hopkins and Clowney at the same time.
If I’m Clowney, I’m making sure that I’m truly 100 percent before I have to prove myself to the Kirby Drive crew one more time.
No one has mentioned a holdout. O’Brien expects No. 90 to be ready for the real summer practices, and that’s all that matters in mid-June.
Clowney always has been at his best when he’s proving people wrong.
Getting the best and most out of the No. 1 pick of 2014 in 2018 could pay off big time for the Texans this season — and Clowney.