Texans’ Jadeveon Clowney Undergoes Sports Hernia Surgery

According to multiple reports, Jadeveon Clowney underwent surgery for a sports hernia on Thursday and will miss the Houston Texans’ mandatory three-day mini-camp next week. A defensive superstar out of South Carolina, Clowney was selected No. 1 overall in the 2014 NFL Draft.

Houston coach Bill O’Brien said on Friday that Clowney flew to Philadelphia to undergo a medical examination for a lingering groin issue. Following the exam, the injury was determined serious enough to warrant immediate action and the decision to have the surgery was made.

Said O’Brien, “We just looked at it as, let’s take care of it now, and he’ll be ready for training camp. And we’re looking forward to seeing him in training camp.”

He continued, “It was the best thing for J.D. and the best thing for our team and our organization. He’ll be ready to go for training camp. That’s about all I’ll say about that.”

Concern in Houston about Clowney’s availability for training camp is well founded. Having played defensive end at South Carolina, a substantial learning curve is to be expected in making the difficult transition to outside linebacker. To this point he had participated fully in the team’s OTAs.

The sudden surgery does raise concerns about Clowney’s health in durability, a question that raised about him in the months leading up to the draft. In addition to a groin injury sustained during his pro day and a trained muscle that kept him out of a game last October, bone spurs in Clowney’s right foot dogged him throughout his college career in Columbia.

Of course, the good news is that the Texans don’t seem overly concerned about the situation and are confident the rookie will be ready to go come August. And if they are overly concerned, they’re doing an excellent job of not looking panicked.

Earlier this month Clowney put pen to paper on a four-year contract worth upwards of $22 million—$14 million of which was paid out as a signing bonus.