CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Browns have now overall picked the first number of first-time honors on the NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Myles Garrett has been on track for the award for the past two seasons before mitigating circumstances intervened, and now Browns, the new defensive end, Jadeveon Clowney – the no. 1 overall choice in 2014 – capable of doing so.
“With my potential and the way I play the game, if I can stay healthy, I should not be far from the defensive player of the year,” Clowney said on Wednesday in his introductory Zoom call. “I think I have the potential and can do it.”
So can he and Garrett, an All-Pro in the first team in 2020, each compete for the coveted award?
“Yes, at least for All-Pro, I know it – one and two, something like that,” he said.
Clowney, 28, was signed by the Browns on Wednesday for a one-year deal worth $ 8 million, plus $ 2 million more, and he wants to prove he is still worthy of his No. 1 status, despite only having three pockets in his last two. seasons, a team of 21 games. He had nothing in eight times in Tennessee last season, but had a torn meniscus before closing it for the last seven games and undergoing surgery.
Still, he was through the tenth week for ninth place in the NFL with 22 hits, the same as Bud Dupree, Joey Bosa and TJ Watt, and just two less than Garrett.
“I’m glad I quit when I did that, and it did not get any worse,” he said. “I feel great now. I’m looking forward to proving to guys that I’m healthy and that I can still dominate in this league. ‘
Clowney, a 2016-18 three-time Pro Bowler when he played alongside three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year JJ Watt in Houston, is confident he has not yet had his career season, mainly due to injuries, including five knee surgeries. and one core muscle operation after the 2019 season in Seattle.
“My career started slowly because I injured the first game of my career with a microfracture (knee surgery), probably the worst thing you could have had in this game,” he said. “I do not think everyone should have seen the person who drafted them. I’m working on it again, but I’m well on my way now. I’ve made three Pro Bowls, and it’s funny because I’ve never been really healthy to the point where I felt like nothing was bothering me. ”
He feels so good now that it is hardly this world.
“They say the sky is the limit, but it’s probably higher than that,” he said. ‘However, they have footprints on the moon. This is where we try to reach. I just want to stay healthy. If I play 16 games, I think we’ll be ready to watch. ”
Clowney plays a proof of a one-year deal and knows he has a lot of doubts, especially since this is his fourth team in so many seasons.
“I just want to show that I’m still an elite player, more by proving it to myself than anything,” he said. “We’re going to see this season.”
One reason Clowney (6-5, 255) is confident he will perform here is to play against Garrett, who draws double teams throughout. It will be like his Houston days, where Watt took a lot of heat off of him.
“I’ve had an awful lot of doubles in this league and in my career,” he said. ‘I’m looking forward to playing with someone who dominates on the other side like a Myles Garrett, who can pull a double team. Maybe I can go one by one (laugh). ”
As for the spotlight on Garrett, he’s all for it.
“I can not care about the focus,” he said. “I want them to focus on him. It can take a little pressure off of myself. Let them focus on him. ”
Despite the fact that he and Garrett were both represented by Bus Cook until Clowney hired Kennard McGuire last season, they have only spoken twice and they do not know each other well. But Clowney will know his place when he arrives for camp.
“I’m not really trying to step in and step on someone’s toes and be a ‘whore guy,'” he said. ‘If they ask for my opinion or ask anything of me, of course I give it to them. I’m just here to help, do my job and play hard. I’m definitely going to play hard. Everyone knows that. ”
Clowney laughed when asked about the difference between this year and last year, when he was reluctant to sign here, despite Browns CEO Andrew Berry offering more money than anyone else for a one-year deal and almost as much for ‘ a perennial offering.
“Yes, they win,” he said. “They have an excellent team. They are definitely a winning team. They won 12 games last year, right? More than the team I played for last year won (the Titans won 11-5 and lost in the wild card round).
‘I like this section for one. This is great competition. I can play with big players next to me. It was basically that – who I can play with and who will help me get further in my career. ”
He also appreciates Berry’s perseverance in landing him, and the fact that he likes his relentless playing style. In fact, the two developed a mutually relentless society throughout the recruitment process.
“I said, ‘This man is very ruthless,'” Clowney said. ‘He came after me relentlessly and tried to get me here, and I will be relentless on the field for him. He told me he likes my playing style. I said ‘I’m going to bring it here’. ‘
Clowney also heeded the call of the Browns’ new defense package to “jump on board” Malik Jackson, who Jackson says is a Super Bowl contender.
‘I have some of the words he said and some of the words that safety (S John Johnson III) said:’ He’s never played in a career with anyone ‘and’ come ‘ a good defense, ” ‘Clowney said. “It caught my attention. They are hungry, I can tell you that. So I jumped on board. I do not think Cleveland is like the people were before. ‘
But he actually knows about a week after his first visit on March 24th.
“My team and I sat down, and we decided to make a group decision,” he said. “This is where I’re supposed to be this year.”
His family members were initially skeptical.
“I told my girlfriend and family that I would probably go to Cleveland,” said Clowney, who has a young son, Jahlil. “They said, ‘Cleveland?’ “I said, ‘Yes, I enjoyed my visits there with the guys, excellent staff and I can get along with them and have a good time.’ They said they could not believe it. ”
Are they on board now?
“They are definitely on board,” he said. “They have no choice but to be on board with me.”
According to Clowney, circumstances changed when he switched from Cook to McGuire in September, just before signing with the Titans.
“My last [agent] did not tell me to visit, but this made me visit, ” Clowney said. ‘I had to sit down with the staff and get to know some of the guys. They were pretty relaxed and straight. They knew how to get where they were trying to go. I want to be a part of something like that. ‘
Clowney was so focused on defense that he never thought about playing in the same team as Odell Beckham Jr. a co-no. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield, making the Browns the first team since Washington in 2001 with at least three No. 1 overall picks on the roster. It also gave them ten picks in the first round on the team.
“To be honest, I did not even think of the offensive side,” he said. ‘If I think about offense, I’ll probably start with that running game – the two-headed monster (from RB’s Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt) is really what grabs me. Those guys in the backfield are hard to tackle. I think because I played against them too. I’m not really worried about receivers because I do not have to watch out for them. ‘
But Mayfield, who turned 26 on Wednesday, definitely took Clowney to heart and posted on Instagram that “it’s a nice birthday present.”
For Clowney, it’s a gift to play for a competitor.
“It’s very different,” he said. “When guys try to win, it brings out the best in everyone on the team. It’s a great feeling to know that you can get to a team that’s already going, and I can just fit in and try to help them get over the hump and get to the Super Bowl. ”
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