Inside Pitch

Johnathan Joseph's relationship with Jadeveon Clowney gave the Titans an edge in the battle for the high-profile free agent.

Jadeveon Clowney presumably had a lot of people around the NFL try to sway him in one direction or the other when it came time to choose a team just weeks before the start of the regular season.

Before he signed with the Tennessee Titans, the New Orleans Saints put out a creative offer to the three-time Pro Bowl defensive end. At the same time, Titans players took to social media, specifically Twitter, to persuade Clowney in the other direction.

While he didn’t do it publicly, 36-year-old veteran cornerback Johnathan Joseph made a pitch of his own to Clowney. Joseph, who signed a signed a one-year deal with Titans in April, said he believes Clowney trusted the selling points he made about the Titans.

“I guess I had a sense [that he would sign with the Titans] from the pitch that I gave him, telling him about everything going on here with the Tennessee Titans,” Joseph said, “the situation that presented itself for him, where he stood at in his career, all of those other things. I left it at that. I never put any more pressure on him.”

It isn’t a surprise that the 2014 No. 1 overall pick would trust Joseph’s pitch.

Both grew up in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and were NFL teammates for five years with the Houston Texans.

“We have a great friendship and relationship,” Joseph said. “I think he trusts my guidance and what I tell him. I think he’s been able to come over here and see the same exact things I was telling him about the Titans.”

In addition to his familiarity with Joseph, Clowney was also no stranger to head coach Mike Vrabel. In 2017, Vrabel coached Joseph and Clowney as the Texans’ defensive coordinator.

That season happened to be Clowney's best to date. He played in all 16 games for the only time in his career and 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.

“I know when I was with Vrabel in Houston, I was a second-team All-Pro and three Pro Bowls with him,” Clowney said after signing with Tennessee. “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 and not have to think a lot about how to execute the calls because I had been in his system before.”

After just one full week of practice with his new team, Clowney played in 47 snaps in the Titans’ 16-14 victory over the Denver Broncos on Monday. The 27-year-old defensive end made an immediate impact, recording three tackles, one tackle for a loss and one quarterback hit.

None of it surprised Joseph, who knows Clowney about as well as any Titans player or coach does.

“That’s the type of guy he is,” Joseph, a two-time Pro Bowler, said. “He’s always in good shape. He’s a physical specimen.

“I said it to him constantly, calling and reaching out. … It wasn’t really about where he was going to sign but reminding him when he does, he was going to be in tip-top football shape because there was no preseason or all of these other extra weeks to catch up and get into game mode.”

By all indications, Clowney had no problem doing that.