Jadeveon Clowney Injury: Updates on Texans Star's Knee and Return

Updates from Sunday, Nov. 16

Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle confirms Jadeveon Clowney is active for Week 11:

Updates from Friday, Nov. 14

Dale Robertson of the Houston Chronicle has the latest on Clowney:

Updates from Thursday, Nov 13

The Houston Texans passed along comments from head coach Bill O'Brien, who spoke about Jadeveon Clowney's recovery:

John McClain of the Houston Chronicle provided an update on Clowney's status:

"

Inside inebacker Brian Cushing and outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney are expected to play against Cleveland, but running back Arian Foster is “definitely day-to-day,” according to coach Bill O’Brien.

[...]

If Clowney’s able to play, he’s expected to be used in a fashion similar to the Tennessee game when he came off the bench to rush the passer. 

"

Clowney later updated the condition of his knee, via McClain:

Updates from Wednesday, Nov. 12

Deepi Sidhu of HoustonTexans.com provides an update on Jadeveon Clowney's status from head coach Bill O'Brien:

Updates from Wednesday, Nov. 5

Jadeveon Clowney spoke about his recovery with Mark Berman of Fox 26 on Wednesday:

Updates from Sunday, Nov. 2

The Houston Texans have ruled Jadeveon Clowney as inactive for Sunday, via Tania Ganguli of ESPN:

Earlier,Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported the pregame expectation for Clowney's status for today's game:

Original Text

For the second time this season, Houston Texans rookie Jadeveon Clowney may miss time. 

This time, according to Mark Berman of Fox 26, the defensive end has suffered an illness that puts his status in question:

Drew Dougherty of Texans.com has more from head coach Bill O'Brien:

Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle reports on Clowney's official status:

Clowney has been beaten up in his first season. He left Houston's first regular season game against the Washington Redskins after tearing the meniscus in his right knee during the second quarter of a 17-6 win. The rookie pass-rusher had surgery on Sept. 8 and was expected to miss four to six weeks. 

After the surgery, Texans head coach Bill O'Brien told reporters that Clowney's resilience would carry him through the difficult task of missing so much time in his rookie season, via Tania Ganguli of ESPN:

"He's been good," O'Brien said. "He's a great kid. He's a resilient kid. He's been a good teammate since the day he walked in the door here. He was disappointed, obviously... We've got great doctors here and he'll be back."

In Week 8, Clowney made his return in Houston's victory against the Tennessee Titans. He was limited, playing mostly on third-down passing situations, but just having him out there was a boon to the Texans defense.

About getting back into game action, Clowney told reporters after Week 8 that one of the biggest obstacles for him to get over was the fear that someone might take a shot at his knee, via Ganguli:

"

I was thinking about all that before the game. But guys were just like, 'Just come out here and play.' I never had a major injury like this so I was just trying to come out there and build confidence and have fun...

You ain't always healthy playing football, so just go out there do what I can do, help the team out as much as possible. Felt great to be out there with my teammates, not on the sideline with a T-shirt or something.

"

Despite being 21 years old, these issues do become a concern. He's missing out on valuable development time and has a long way to go before reaching his full potential. There's no immediate danger of Clowney becoming a bust, but creeping doubts will linger before he proves capable of staying healthy. 

While this illness shouldn't keep Clowney out for long, it's still troubling. It would be nice to see him find a rhythm before the end of 2014 to give him something to build on heading into his second year.

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