“Grave Concern” About Jadeveon Clowney’s Long-Term Future

After speaking to two NFL doctors and a source within the Texans, Jason Cole reports that there is “grave concern” about Jadeveon Clowney‘s long-term future in the NFL.

The Texans officially placed Clowney on the season-ending injured reserve list Wednesday after he recently underwent microfracture surgery on his right knee.

The expectation right now is that Clowney will miss the next nine months recovering from the procedure, and the possibility exists that he could miss a portion of the 2015 season. That’s by no means guaranteed, but the potential to miss a game or two remains.

Cole mentions that even after Clowney finishes his long rehab, his future workload could be limited given that this type of injury can wear down the scar tissue in his knee that is essentially working as cartilage.

The doctors who spoke to Cole pointed out that scar tissue wears down much faster than cartilage does, which means that players at his position are “highly unlikely” to a have a long career.

According to Cole’s sources, there is a better chance that the Texans will get something close to 4-6 productive years from the 2014 No. 1 overall pick. There is also some question about how effective Clowney can be after undergoing this type of surgery.

Cole points to Buccaneers DE Da’Quan Bowers as a player who was once highly touted, but his knee injury has impacted his ability to live up to the expectations for him coming out of Clemson.

It’s worth mentioning that players have gone on to have decent careers after this kind of procedure, but there are plenty more that have seen their productivity drop off following microfracture surgery.

Clowney recorded just seven tackles and no sacks over the course of four games. Pro Football Focus has Clowney down for playing 132 snaps this season to go along with a below-average rating of -2.2.