Cowboys new DE Jadeveon Clowney.
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Cowboys new DE Jadeveon Clowney.
It’s been 11 years since new Cowboys end Jadeveon Clowney was the No. 1 pick in the NFL, and while he’s had two Pro Bowl appearances to his credit, injuries and inconsistency have kept him from being the kind of dominant pass-rusher he once seemed destined to be. Still, the Cowboys are taking their chance on Clowney because he can still, even at age 32, get to the quarterback.
And the Cowboys, with Micah Parsons traded and just four sacks and 11 QB hits on the season, certainly need someone who can get to the quarterback.
The Cowboys officially signed Clowney on Monday and there was, immediately some good news to go along with it: Clowney is ready to go for Week 3.
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Now, that does not mean we’ll see Clowney in midseason form right out of the gate. He was cut by the Panthers back in May and did not have a training camp. But he told reporters on Monday that he expects to be on the field on Sunday against the Bears in Chicago.
He’s not sure how much he will play, however.
“I do expect to play, but I don’t know a snap count,” Clowney said via ESPN. “That’s up to the coaches. I remember I walked into Tennessee Week 1 [in 2020] and played like 40 snaps in the first game, and we played in Mile High Denver. So, it’s nothing new to me. It’s football. Just go out there, be physical, play your game. If you get tired, that’s why there’s other guys on your team.”
Indeed, according to Football-Reference.com, Clowney played 47 snaps–79% of the defensive snaps in the game–in a 16-14 win over the Broncos in Denver. That was just eight days after he signed a one-year, $13 million deal with Tennessee, though it was also when Clowney was 27 years old.
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While Clowney was clear that he is not coming into Dallas to replicate Parsons, he was also clear that he has much to prove after having gone unsigned all offseason. He does not want to show anyone he can be Parsons, he wants to show–and with an ample national audience, he can do so in Dallas–that he can still be Clowney.
The Cowboys will take that.
“I ain’t stop working out yet,” Clowney said to his agent this summer. “Get me on a team. So let’s get it, hurry up and make it happen while I’m still in that mindset and the drive is there and me just grinding was there. …
““I’ve got seven primetime games to prove and show the world. That was my whole thought with coming down here. I get to play in prime time and put myself out there again.”