Jaguars' Corner Chris Claybrooks Reveals He Played 2020 Season With Injuries
The Jacksonville Jaguars found themselves calling on rookie Chris Claybrooks sooner than expected during the 2020 season. Injuries and opt outs meant the defensive back and special teams returner out of Memphis appeared in 13 games, starting four.
On Wednesday though, Claybrooks posted on social media, revealing he had played his first season in the league through multiple injures.
Claybrooks first was thrust into significant action in Week 4 against the Cincinnati Bengals. Starter CJ Henderson left the game with injury and Claybrooks finished the game in his place, posting eight tackles and a pass defended.
The rookie then started the following week versus the Houston Texans while Henderson was still sidelined. Against the Pittsburgh Steelers on November 22, Claybrooks started once again at corner and posted a season (and career) high nine tackles. Four days later he was placed on injured reserve with a core muscle injury, before being re-activated on December 19.
As Claybrooks shared on Wednesday though, his injuries were much more severe.
“Been playing on a tore labrum and rotator cuff then later on I discovered that I had a sports induced hernia,” Claybrooks shared on his Twitter and Instagram pages.
“…never been soft!! .. I played on that and my shoulder the whole season .. got to make a way”
Claybrooks finished the 2020 season with 38 tackles and three passes defended. Having been drafted primarily for his ability as a special teams returner, the fact Claybrooks was thrown into the fire and held his own impressed former head coach Doug Marrone.
“When I look back, the guy that’s probably been a pleasant surprise is [Chris] Claybrooks and his time in there and just the way he competes because we weren’t thinking about him going in there and playing corner for us. He can go in and he has good man to man skills because of his speed,” Marrone said ahead of the Steelers game.
But on December 18, Marrone also shared with reporters the warning he had given Claybrooks about staying healthy.
“I think it’s hard to keep becoming a good player when you don’t have the two things that I’ve always talked about: coachability and availability. I was talking to [Chris] Claybrooks today, who obviously will be back, and I was telling him and I said, ‘Hey how was it?’ You know, he’s worked his butt off to get back. And he was like, ‘Oh it was awful, I couldn’t stand it, being around.’ He goes, ‘It reminded me of a time when I was at Memphis and I was injured,’” Marrone shared of their conversation at the time.
“And I told him, I said, ‘Look, you worked your butt off and you’ve got a chance to stay in this league at some capacity.’ I said, ‘But that’s the thing you’re going to have to solve. Being able to take care of your body, being available, and being coachable, because then, if you—that gives you an opportunity to make it, it doesn’t guarantee it."
The Jaguars re-signed corners Tre Herndon and Sidney Jones IV ahead of free agency opening. They also agreed to terms with Shaquill Griffin, making him their highest-paid defensive back and free agent addition. On March 9, Head Coach Urban Meyer revealed CJ Henderson had offseason labrum surgery as well and is now in the rehab.
