Jadeveon Clowney returns to practice for first time after knee surgery

If Jadeveon Clowney can be the player who many thought was the best defensive draft prospect in years, it'll be a great boon for the Houston Texans.

Clowney made a nice step toward becoming that player when he returned to practice on Monday. It'll be a long time before we know if Clowney has fully recovered from microfracture knee surgery, but at least he's making progress.

The best news might be that he didn't have any brace on his knee and felt no soreness, according to the Houston Chronicle.

“I feel pretty good,” Clowney said, according to the Chronicle. “Just happy to be back out there and be with my teammates. Means a lot to me to be back with the guys.”

Clowney's rookie year, after being the No. 1 pick of the draft, was mostly a waste. He hurt his knee in the regular-season opener and never was healthy. He played in four games and had seven tackles with no sacks. The great pass rusher who flashed moments of brilliance at South Carolina never appeared for the Texans.

Clowney still isn't all the way back. He's limited to individual drills until he's cleared for team work, the Chronicle said. His timetable for returning to a game is still murky, thought the Texans are hopeful he'll play in the regular-season opener. All of that makes sense; the last thing the Texans want is to rush Clowney before he's ready and have him take a step back. The Texans invested a lot into Clowney, and in the best-case scenario he'll be just as explosive as before and provide a devastating pass-rush duo with defensive end J.J. Watt.

It appears Clowney is using the adversity of the past year in a positive way. He talked about how practice was fun, and how he asked coaches to pass rush some because he was "tired of hitting blocking dummies that don’t hit back." It was good to be back on the field with his teammates.

“[I worked] more than I’ve worked in my whole life, probably,” Clowney said as he referred to his rehab, according to the Chronicle. “It was worth it. Just to be back out here, it was all worth it.”