Jadeveon Clowney's disappointing rookie season is officially done

No. 1 overall draft pick Jadeveon Clowney's rookie stats: four games, seven tackles, no sacks, two knee surgeries, one trip to injured reserve.

Bottom line: One very disappointing season for the Houston Texans' outside linebacker.

Clowney is far from a bust yet, but his first season was terrible. Most of it can be excused because of injuries. He had hernia surgery before training camp. He hurt his knee in the Texans' season opener and had arthroscopic surgery. The knee never really got better, and the Texans announced they are shutting him down for the rest of the season, and he'll undergo another knee surgery.

The Texans didn't specify what kind of surgery he'll have, but getting it now will give him a few more weeks of rehab time before the offseason program begins.

"This guy's a football player. He wants to play football, he wants to be good. He was disappointed," Texans coach Bill O'Brien said, according to the team's Twitter account. Clowney's final season at South Carolina was marked with criticisms of his effort on the field, and if he was willing to play through injuries. Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier called him out for not playing through bruised ribs. That noise will get a lot louder after Clowney barely made an impact and missed three-quarters of his rookie season with injuries. It doesn't help him that outside linebacker Khalil Mack is having a nice rookie season with the Raiders, as are about a dozen receivers (and many other rookies) that could have helped the Texans right away. There isn't much Clowney could do, of course. If his injury is severe enough to require a second surgery, it's hard to believe he was milking anything. But the dream of seeing J.J. Watt and Clowney terrorizing offenses will have to wait another year. Hopefully Clowney is the same player we saw in college when he returns.