Jadeveon Clowney won't rush his return from an ankle injury, but he says he's close to being 'back to my old tricks.' (TheLandOnDemand)
Jadeveon Clowney says he’s closer to returning from an ankle injury, but won’t rush back until he knows he’s ready
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Takeaways from Browns practice and interviews …
Myles Garrett sounds like a definite go for Sunday against the Chargers. But Jadeveon Clowney’s status is still uncertain.
Clowney is straddling that line of wanting to come back to help his team v. avoiding aggravating an ankle injury that could hamper the rest of his season. The example of Jedrick Wills last season trying to play through an ankle injury is not lost on him.
“Yeah, you out there and you ain’t yourself,” Clowney said. “There’s always a problem when you’re worried about what’s going on with your body instead of worrying about the opponent or what you’re doing. But you want to be out there with your teammates. You want to give them what you got. Whatever that is, you want to give it to them because they depend on you. They’re counting on you.
“You don’t know how much I hear throughout the day, ‘We counting on you. We need you.’ That’s what pushes you. But I don’t want to hurt myself in the process. I want to make sure when I come back I don’t miss no more time.”
Clowney said he was influenced by his first injury in his first NFL game after being the No. 1 pick in the 2014 draft. He suffered a torn meniscus in the second quarter. He had one surgery, and then needed another. The second one was the complex microfracture surgery, which some players recover from and some don’t.
“My first injury ever probably changed my whole process of playing football,” he said. “Microfracture on my knee. My first career game I go out and do something to my knee. It changed everything. It put me in the mindset of you gotta grind even harder to get what you want ‘cuz I didn’t know if it was going to be over at the time. It was 50-50, they say. I came back and I’m in year nine now. I just know what it takes.”
Clowney suffered the ankle injury late in Game 2 against the Jets. He said it’s somewhere between a high ankle sprain and a low ankle sprain.
“Man, I just don’t like the injury train,” he said. “I just know what comes with it. It’s early mornings, late nights, staying up just trying to do everything you can to get back. I hate the process. I know what it takes, I just didn’t want to go through it. I was mad it happened to me. I’m sure everybody would tell you they don’t want to be hurt in this league. Any time you go out there it can happen.”
The fact that Clowney spoke to reporters for the first time since the injury is a good sign that his rehab is coming to an end. He didn’t practice again on Thursday, but he hasn’t ruled out playing on Sunday despite not practicing for three weeks.
“I did it before. A few times. Should be alright. It’s football,” he said.
In the meantime, both Garrett and defensive tackle Taven Bryan had their second consecutive day of limited work after missing the Falcons game. The Chargers' league-leading passing game awaits the Browns on Sunday.
“It’d be great having the whole front back,” Clowney said. “Any time you go against a passing team, that’s a D-lineman’s dream, going after the passer.
“I should be back very soon, back to my old tricks.
Going for it, revisited
An interesting exchange with offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt on the decision to go for it on fourth-and-3 from the Falcons 4 on the Browns’ first series in Atlanta.
“I think we live and die by the analytics,” Van Pelt said. “Whatever gives us the best chance to win that game in that situation. We’re always going to be aggressive. That’s just our style. If they say it’s green [go for it], it’s green. We’re going.”
Van Pelt then was asked how much does the particular opponent be taken into account to dictate the degree of aggression the Browns are willing to make.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with it,” he replied. “I think you are or you aren’t, and we are, so we did.”
Brownie bits
Since the first 53 was chosen, the Browns felt they were short-handed a true blocking tight end. They tried to remedy that by signing Jesse James, but he went on injured reserve with a biceps injury. They never were comfortable with using offensive lineman Michael Dunn in that role, and that’s why they re-signed Pharaoh Brown. He previously was with the Browns in parts of the 2018 and 2020 seasons. “I was impressed with his ability to block in the run game,” Van Pelt said. “He gives us ability to have a true, big Y [in-line blocking tight end] in the run game and still contribute in the pass game.” …
The Falcons were the first team to smash-mouth the Browns’ lighter, faster defense. The Falcons ran the ball 14 times in a row with two backup running backs to score a touchdown and set up a field goal in the fourth quarter. Defensive coordinator Joe Woods cited the influx of younger players for injured veterans on defense for scaling back the play menu and he said he’s not concerned that other teams will be as successful if they copy the Falcons. “I feel we have some calls that can put us into position if teams choose to run the ball. Some things I didn’t carry last week. I hope it doesn’t happen again. I think we have enough calls to deal with it and I think with the players we can handle it,” he said.
