Jadeveon Clowney Injury: Texans DE Active vs. Raiders

Houston Texans star defensive end Jadeveon Clowney is dealing with elbow and wrist injuries that kept him out of the team's regular-season finale. 

However, the Texans announced he is active for the team's wild-card matchup with the Oakland Raiders.

The team previously announced he was a full participant in Friday's practice.

Clowney, 23, has begun to live up to the promise that made him the top overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft, registering 52 tackles, six sacks and one forced fumble. With J.J. Watt on injured reserve, Clowney has had to pick up some of the slack for the sidelined superstar. 

While Clowney hasn't been able to post the ridiculous stats Watt regularly accumulates, his combination with Whitney Mercilus has somewhat mitigated the loss of Watt. Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com broke down the pair in early December:

"When he's played for us, when he's been out there, he plays very hard," Texans head coach Bill O'Brien said of Clowney after his key third quarter strip-sack of Andrew Luck led to a win over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 13, per Wilson. "He's been disruptive. I know a lot of people talk about that was the best game and most important play. It was a great play he made on the strip-sack, but there were so many more plays he made in the game that were good, too."

But Clowney's young career has been marred by injury, including microfracture knee surgery during his rookie year that cost him 12 games. He also missed three games in 2015 and one due to injury in 2016.

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