Jadeveon Clowney was the first overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft and came into the league with impossibly high expectations. Clowney was injured throughout the majority of his rookie season and has been injured for most of this preseason as well. Clowney started practicing a week ago and will now reportedly have his workload increased this week, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.
Last week Clowney was limited to mostly individual drills but this week head coach Bill O'Brien has said he will be involved in more full-team drills and he is eager to get out there.
"We'll do a little bit more with him in practice, I've been pleased with the way he has reacted and practiced with the plan that we've had for him so far. He's eager to get out there. One of the good signs with him is that he'll come up to us and say, 'Can I do more? I'd like to be in that drill,' because he sees the competition and he'd like to be in more, but we have to stick to the medical plan," said O'Brien.
Clowney started this offseason on the PUP list (physically unable to perform) after underdoing microfracture surgery on his knee last year. During his rookie year Clowney not only had the serious knee injury but he also dealt with a sports hernia and a concussion. Due to the many injuries Clowney only played in four games and failed to register a single sack.
Clowney was an extremely highly regarded player coming out of college at South Carolina and many people thought he was one of the most dominant pass rushers to enter the NFL in a while. Clowney and J.J. Watt have the potential to be an extremely devastating duo of pass rushers but that all depends on whether Clowney can get on the field consistently.
Clowney is still just 22 years old but Texans fans understandably want him on the field now as they did use the first overall draft pick on him. The good news is that Clowney appears to have the right attitude and seems to be making some significant progress. Although Clowney will have his workload increased in practice this week he is still unlikely to play in the Texans third preseason game and as of right now his status for week one is in doubt.