Injury prevents Year 2 jump for Okoye

Discussion in 'Tennessee Titans and NFL Talk' started by NewsGrabber, Dec 12, 2008.

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  1. NewsGrabber

    NewsGrabber Guest

    Posted by ESPN.com's Paul Kuharsky [​IMG]Okoye Year Two is supposed to be big. The jump for a quality player from his rookie season to his second is often the biggest of his career.

    Houston's defensive tackle Amobi Okoye, a member of the 2007 All-Rookie Team, has not followed the graph, in large part because of a lingering high ankle sprain hasn't allowed him to.

    As a rookie he played in 16 games, starting 14 and recording 32 tackles, 5.5 sacks and a forced fumble.

    This year in 11 games and nine starts he's got 16 tackles and a fumble recovery.

    Gary Kubiak took questions about Okoye from Houston press on Friday:

    What has Amobi Okoye done to help the defense?

    Gary Kubiak: Just his presence coming back. First off, he's not 100 percent. He's been playing hurt for us the last few weeks. We missed some time with him. He's been getting better. He can play better than he's been playing, and I think he will as we finish this season. But, just getting him back in some of the things we're doing I think has helped us out.

    Do you think Okoye is having a decent season considering the injury?

    GK: I think we would have all liked to have seen him take a bigger step forward in Year 2 but you can't do anything about a high ankle sprain and there's still a lot of football left here to play. We're expecting him to be a big part of us playing better these last three weeks.

    Is Okoye is playing in run situations or more in passing situations?

    GK: Well, I wouldn't say there's one way or another. We just try to make sure he's playing 35 plays, somewhere in that neighborhood. So, we're rotating those guys. It's like any other player. You're trying to find his optimal level. But his problem has been coming off of a high ankle sprain. Those things just don't get better probably until you take a lot of time off.



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