Pass rush back to an issue? Jadeveon Clowney inactive for Seahawks at Eagles
The Seahawks were without their best player at their most important position grouping against Philadelphia.
After days this past week away from the team to treat his injured hip, Jadeveon Clowney was inactive for Sunday’s game against the Eagles.
The Seahawks had listed him questionable to play after he flew to Philadelphia ahead of the team to meet here with a specialist, reportedly Dr. William Meyers, a pioneering specialist on core-muscle injuries.
Clowney was coming off a bye and his best game yet since arriving in Seattle Sept. 1 in his trade from Houston. That was Nov. 11, when the three-time Pro Bowl defensive end dominated the San Francisco 49ers’ offensive line. Clowney had a sack. He had five of Seattle’s season-high 10 quarterback hits. He forced a fumble. He recovered a fumble.
He thoroughly terrorized Jimmy Garoppolo and the Niners, and the Seahaw3ks beat the last undefeated team in the NFL.
Clowney turned what had been the Seahawks’ potentially fatal flaw—their weak pass rush—into the decisive factor in their overtime win at San Francisco. That performance, after nine uneven games, is perhaps the largest reason why the Seahawks entered Sunday 8-2 and in control of their fate for the NFC West division title.
So how did Clowney get hurt while being so dominant against the 49ers?
“Something he felt in the game. It came out of the game,” coach Pete Carroll said Friday. “He left with a little something.
“We’re just checking him out, making sure he’s OK.”
Before Clowney’s uprising Seattle’s pass rush was 25th in the NFL and the team’s biggest issue through nine games. The Seahawks are unlikely to go where they want to this season—the Super Bowl—without consistently affecting opposing quarterbacks.
Rookie first-round draft choice L.J. Collier figured to have more prominence Sunday on the defensive line—certainly more than the four times the end had been a healthy inactive in the first 10 games.
The Seahawks’ other inactives Sunday were not surprises.
Tight end Luke Willson was out with the hamstring he strained at San Francisco. Wide receiver Jaron Brown has lost his veteran role as a third or fourth wide receiver with the arrival this month of Josh Gordon, who was playing his second game for Seattle.
Special-team mainstay Neiko Thorpe, like Clowney, did not practice all week because of a strained groin.
Running back C.J. Prosise, rookie wide receiver John Ursua and rookie guard Phil Haynes were inactive again.
This story was originally published November 24, 2019 at 9:01 AM.
