Some assorted notes from around the NFL as we wrap up the weekend…
- Jadeveon Clowney‘s rookie campaign was cut short by injuries, but Texans head coach Bill O’Brien is confident the first-overall pick will be fully healthy by the start of the season. “I think he’s gonna be there for the opening game against Kansas City,” O’Brien told Michael Silver of NFL.com. “I think he’s going to make it back, and I’m really looking forward to that. He’s working very hard to get back.”
- While Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles has struggled through assorted injuries during his career, the 28-year-old is optimistic that he can play at least another half-decade in the NFL. “(The game) has changed,” Charles told Terez A. Paylor of The Kansas City Star. “They’ve got all kinds of technology now, all kinds of medicine people have come up with to stay healthy. At the end of the day, an ACL you couldn’t play (with), it was the end of a career. Now they’ve got all kinds of things that you can be back in like five or four months. The future is changing, football is changing, sports are just changing…I want to play another six years, so my form is to keep on taking my diet. I’m seeing guys at 37 or 38 still playing football in the trenches, and that’s somewhere where you don’t want to play.”
- Packers wideout Jordy Nelson told Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that his recovery from hip surgery is on track (Twitter link). The receiver noted that he received no warning prior to playing a softball game, indicating that the injury is no longer an issue. “Not a single person said anything,” Nelson said. “I was kind of shocked.”
- Brandon George of The Dallas Morning News believes if cornerback Brandon Carr doesn’t live up to his salary in 2015, the Cowboys shouldn’t have any issue cutting him. The team will have a better idea of Bryon Jones‘ talents, and they’ll also get a year to evaluate the oft-injured Morris Claiborne.