We’ll see soon enough if the progress is real, but the Texans are using words like “spectacular” to describe the progress of former No. 1 overall pick Jadeveon Clowney after microfracture surgery.
According to Tania Ganguli of ESPN.com, Texans team physician Dr. Walt Lowe said he was very encouraged by Clowney’s progress in an interview with Forbes.com.
“The real goal in the end is to have him be who he was before he got hurt,” Lowe said, which would be nice, considering he played just four games last year because of a right meniscus tear in the opener.
Clowney had surgery the following day and tried to return, but it didn’t go well and he had microfracture on Dec. 8 to repair cartilage damage.
The Texans have used a unique blood flow restriction therapy, which is designed to minimize muscle deficits during the early stages of rehab. Lowe said that a player such as Clowney would have normally lost three or four centimeters of girth around his quadriceps after the surgery, but Clowney had lost only between half a centimeter and one centimeter.
They were already a strong defense without him, but if they could get a pass-rusher of his potential back, it could make a front seven which added nose tackle Vince Wilfork this offseason even more imposing.