The Texans kept linebacker Jadeveon Clowney on the sideline for last Sunday’s game against the Eagles a week after he made his return from a long spell on the sideline following knee surgery.
Clowney’s absence was chalked up to an illness that led to a report of team frustration with the first overall pick. Coach Bill O’Brien addressed them and sounded more frustrated by the series of medical issues that Clowney’s suffered since joining the team than by Clowney himself. Those issues aren’t going away with the Texans on their bye week.
Clowney said Wednesday that lingering soreness in his knee joined his illness as the reason why he wasn’t able to play against the Eagles and that the knee problems haven’t subsided to the point that anyone feels comfortable putting him on the field.
“There are certain things going on with my knee still. I’m not able to do the things I want to do. It’s just not where it needs to be right now. We’re taking a step back and trying to get it to where we need it be so I can play,” Clowney said, via the Houston Chronicle. “There’s some concern [about making it worse], but a lot bigger concern is playing with it now and not being able to do the things I want to do, that I was doing before I got hurt. We’re going to keep working to get back to that.”
Clowney said he hasn’t been bothered by those outside the team complaining about his absence from the field and that there haven’t been any issues with the Texans because they want him to be in peak condition. Still, it’s hardly been what anyone anticipated from the first overall pick in the draft and that’s going to be a source of frustration in Houston until Clowney is back on the field for good.
