Joseph 'Would Love' to Reunite With Clowney
Whether it be a player or a coach, pretty much every member of the Tennessee Titans has been asked once or more than once this summer about Jadeveon Clowney, the biggest prize left on the NFL’s free-agent market.
The three-time Pro Bowl defensive end has been linked to Tennessee since free agency began in the spring. While the team has openly expressed interest in Clowney, the answers have not varied. Conversations have been limited, and everyone seems focused on what they currently have on their roster for now.
It was not much different Friday when 36-year-old cornerback Johnathan Joseph spoke to the media over a video press conference. Joseph has spoken to his longtime friend recently, but not about football.
“My main focus is just making sure whatever decision he makes, whatever team he joins, he is in football shape and is ready to go,” Joseph, who signed a one-year deal with the Titans in April, said, “so when he hits the ground running, he’s able to play to his potential.”
Joseph (pictured, left) and Clowney (pictured, right) both grew up in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and were NFL teammates for five years with the Houston Texans.
Coach Mike Vrabel was their defensive coordinator there for one season (2017) before he landed in Tennessee.
While that Texans defense was inconsistent overall due to injuries, that season was Clowney’s most productive to date. En route to his second consecutive Pro Bowl appearance, he set career-highs for sacks (9.5), tackles for loss (21), quarterback hits (21), forced fumbles (two), fumble recoveries (two) and tackles (59). In addition, Clowney was the only AFC player with at least 20 tackles-for-loss and 20 quarterback hits that season.
That also was the last time Joseph played – and started – all 16 games in a season.
Although it’s no debate that the 2014 No. 1 overall pick is an elite talent, many questions surround Clowney. The 27-year-old has battled numerous injuries in his career and has only played a full 16-game season once in six NFL seasons (2017). Clowney, who spent last season with the Seattle Seahawks, enters this season coming off of core-muscle surgery.
He also has been the NFL’s most penalized player on defense each of the last three years and one of the most penalized in the game. Over that span, he has been flagged 39 times for seven different violations (most of them have been attempts to anticipate or beat the snap). Since Vrabel took over in 2018, the Titans have been one of the NFL’s least penalized teams.
Joseph, just like many members of the Titans, knows what Clowney can bring to the table. The decision, however, isn’t his to make.
As it has been all summer, it’s a wait and see.
“I would love to have him, we would love to have him as a team,” Joseph said, “but until he joins us and signs a contract, I leave it up in the air like everybody else.”
