If you haven't already, you can still greet new Baltimore Ravens linebacker and former 2014 first-overall pick Jadeveon Clowney ahead of the Week 1 opener against the Houston Texans next Sunday.
Clowney himself spoke to the media present at The Castle on Wednesday following the team's practice, and he seems fully committed to helping Odafeh Oweh hone his game. David Ojabo, though, is another entirely different player that Clowney didn't seem too interested in dealing with.
Clifton Brown of BaltimoreRavens.com quoted Clowney saying that the Ravens defensive line is "probably one of the best groups" he's ever played in. The veteran rusher labeled the unit as "consistent" at getting into the opposing backfield.
In an interview with Kyle Barber of Baltimore Beatdown, Clowney also revealed that Odafeh Oweh "reminds me of myself." That has led Clowney to "picking brain," always telling the third-year man "‘You should do this, you should try this, you should not do this,’ or something."
While Clowney thinks that both Oweh and David Ojabo "are great players," he identifies himself more with the former than the latter, who he is trying to unseat from the starting SAM linebacker spot in the starting lineup.
That will have to wait for now, though, as Ojabo is listed as the no.1 SAM in the first depth chart released by the Ravens earlier this week ahead of the Week 1 opener against Houston.
Clowney spoke highly of Oweh but barely mentioned Ojabo. He said Oweh "plays so well," he's got "good change of direction, good bend," and simply labeled Oweh as "just a good player."
As Clowney sees it, Oweh just "got to put it together and make it happen."
It's interesting that Clowney focused so much on Oweh and so little on Ojabo, considering he discussed the former in relation to his career and how injuries impacted it. For context, Ojabo is coming off a nearly lost season last year when he could only play two regular-season games and a couple of postseason snaps following a pre-draft ACL tear.
"I had got hurt early in my career," Clowney started, "I want to take care of himself. If he gets a little banged, I’ll be trying to tell him to stay on top of himself now. He won’t have to deal with that alone. I just want him to do great in his career.”
Good for Oweh, not so much for Ojabo as the latter won't enjoy the benefits of playing across a living legend of the game but rather lose his place to him or be forced into stepping up his game if he doesn't want to lose his starting place to Clowney sooner rather than later.