On Saturday night, Texans rookie defensive end Jadeveon Clowney impressed everyone with a pair of hits on Falcons players. Everyone was impressed. Except one of the guys Clowney hit.
“Just a guy,” running back Antone Smith said, via 610 Sports Radio in Houston. “I don’t see anything special. He’s just a guy. He’s a guy who plays defensive end. He plays pretty good. Made a good play.”
Understandably, coach Bill O’Brien disagreed.
“I think that Clowney has come in here and worked hard, he’s a very instinctive player for a rookie,” O’Brien told reporters on Sunday. “He’s a hard working guy. He’s a guy that when he’s played in these games, he’s played well. He’s been able to show his pass rushing abilities. He’s been able to show his defense against the run ability. He’s dropped into coverage, so he’s done a lot of different things for us and he just needs to keep improving and that’s what he’s going to do.”
We’ll side with O’Brien on this one. While Clowney’s coverage skills definitely need some work, he’s fast and quick and explosive to the backfield. Even if one of the guys he trapped in the backfield doesn’t want to admit it.