Clowney Expects Vrabel to Keep Him on the Move

High-profile free agent addition says his first few days with the Tennessee Titans already remind him of 2017, when coach Mike Vrabel was his coordinator at Houston.

NASHVILLE – Expect to see Jadeveon Clowney on the field Monday night in Denver.

Just don’t look for him to be lined up in one particular position.

The three-time Pro Bowler’s versatility was one of the primary reasons the seventh-year outside linebacker was among the offseason’s most-discussed and most-watched free agents.

When he finally agreed to a one-year deal with the Tennessee Titans on Saturday, it was because he knew that no one would know exactly what to expect from him play to play. As defensive coordinator with the Houston Texans in 2017, now-Titans coach Mike Vrabel used the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft at a number of different positions. In his first few workouts with Tennessee (his third team in as many seasons), Clowney has felt a familiar unpredictability.

“Mike Vrabel is one of the smartest coaches, I think, I’ve ever had since I’ve been playing football,” Clowney said Thursday. “He knows football front to back, and he knows how to put guys into positions to make plays – and that’s what he did in Houston. And when I got here, he started moving me around already. He just puts me in position to make plays.

“He believes I’m a playmaker, and he believes in my ability to make the plays. So, he’ll just keep lining me up all over the place and I can keep executing the calls and making plays for him.”

Thus far, 2017 has been Clowney’s best season. He played all 16 games and set a career-high with nine and a half sacks in addition to 21 quarterback hits, 21 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. He was one of two NFL players that season with at least 20 tackles for loss and 20 quarterback hits.

That year he was named to the second of three straight Pro Bowls.

“I just was trying to figure out what scheme and what I wanted to be a part of,” Clowney said. “I know when I was with Vrabel in Houston, I was a second-team All-Pro and three Pro Bowls with him. So, I was saying in my head, 'I think I can do that with him in that system.'

“There’s kind of a lot of carryover from what I learned in Houston my first five years. … I knew I could catch on very fast not have to think a lot about how to execute the calls because I had been in his system before.”

As much as the success they had together, the bond they built when things did not go well helped convince Clowney that Tennessee was the right spot for him.

In his first four seasons with the Texans (Vrabel was a position coach for the first three before he was promoted to defensive coordinator), Clowney missed 17 games due to injury, most of them during his rookie season. He played one game in the NFL before a meniscus tear, which required surgery, sidelined him for nearly two months. He returned and played three more that year before complications from the procedure ended his campaign and led to microfracture surgery in December.

“When I got hurt in Houston, he was there for me,” Clowney said. “He trained me. He worked out with me. He got me back. He stayed on me and he wanted me to get back out because he knew my potential. So, he stayed on me the whole time. That offseason he was working out with me, training me. I always felt like he was there for me.”

Vrabel planned to play a significant role in the defensive game plans and gameday calls this season due to the retirement of defensive coordinator Dean Pees back in January. The team will not have a coordinator this season. Instead, Vrabel and outside linebackers coach Shane Bowen will share the leadership responsibilities for that unit.

Regardless of what happens over the next 17 weeks, it is possible Vrabel’s greatest contribution to the defense in 2020 will be the part he played in bringing Clowney, whose addition gives Tennessee seven first-round picks on that side of the ball.

“He taught me so much football when I was with him,” Clowney said. “I think I learned the most football I learned with the guy abut sets and what type of runs you see and everything.

“When I got the opportunity to pick where I was going, I knew it was going to play a big part in it – knowing him and knowing what I learned from him. So, I knew I couldn’t be wrong coming here.”