Kansas City Chiefs DE Frank Clark didn’t get off to the start that he wanted to with his new team in 2019. He was stymied by a neck injury, which prevented him from making a big impact with the Chiefs early on in the season. This year, things are different for Clark, who revealed to reporters on Thursday that he’s feeling the best he has in years.
I am feeling better, you know,” Clark said. “Like I said, our staff here did a great job and just me coming back in from our offseason and just figuring out, you know, getting everything corrected in order so that I could start this season off fresher than I did last year. Also, just getting through camp, I started off camp a little sick but was able to come back midway playing and finish out camp strong and just get my feet under myself and that was my goal just to start the season healthier than I had started the past previous years. You could say dating back about three years ago, seems like I started every season with a different injury. You know whether it was an elbow, or whether it was a neck or whether it was, this or that, it was just something different and just to start this season off and continue to go into the week strong and to be out there with my guys, it’s just dope man. Seeing my results and being able to just be out there and competing and talk my stuff like I do.”
Clark felt healthier and he also looked it too during Thursday night’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers. He was quicker off the ball and racked up the second-most pressures on the night, with five pressures against the Texans. He hasn’t done any specific work to improve in that area, just relying on the fundamentals and work ethic first instilled in him back when he was a Michigan Wolverine.
“No, I’ve been working on my get off and just doing different stuff like that for my whole career really,” Clark said. “I kind of picked up the habit back in the day. I had a defensive coordinator in college, Greg Mattison, he kind of coached my position as well and he kind of taught me a lot of things just throughout the course of a practice. Your hips get locked, your hips get tight from you being on the field working in between reps and stuff like that. So, I do stuff like that just to stay loose, constantly just training my mind, training my body, that repetitive muscle memory just getting off the bar and just staying on top of those things like that.”
Like fellow defensive leader Tyrann Mathieu, Clark was pissed off following Thursday’s win over the Texans. He knows that they need to tighten things up on defense, even in garbage time.
“That’s the word because you pride yourself on stopping the run, finishing the game strong as a defense,” Clark explained. “And I feel like we stopped the run, for the most part, let a few at the end of the game get away. Deshaun (Watson) had a few scrambles as we were rushing the passer when the game was obviously in our hands. But you know, just finishing games, we gave up two touchdowns, I believe in the fourth quarter, when the guys were – we had them held to seven points at that point, and just finishing the game, finishing drives, not let them have extended drives where you can get off the field on the first series, and then you let them extend them, then it stands to a touchdown, stuff like that. We had some good signs, no penalties on defense, stuff like that. So there were some good signs. . . .”
As for the upcoming matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers, Clark is familiar with their new QB Tyrod Taylor. He’s well aware of the type of damage he can do in the ground game and will put an emphasis on discipline.
“He’s a veteran, so he understands systems, he understands blitzes and schemes, and he’s very familiar with of course, different players within our team. I’ve played him when I was back in Seattle, I played him a few times when he was in Buffalo. Even now, even with the Chargers, he’s always been known as an elusive quarterback. If you let him get on the run and allow him to get comfortable in the direction in which he likes throwing, he’s going to make some completions, he’s going to make some big plays. You’ve seen, what was it last week, you watch on film, you watch from his past, if you don’t do a disciplined job rushing the passer on the edges containing the passer on the inside, getting the inside push up the middle and forcing him to bubble or force him to make tough decisions and stuff throws over – you want to force him to make those over the middle. His strength, just throwing to the outside and really throwing those quick routes and stuff over the middle, so you know it’s going to be key for our inside and for our edges and defensive line as a unit to keep him contained.”
Clark, like the rest of the team, has his eyes on another Lombardi Trophy. He knows that he’ll have to take things one week at a time to get there and containing an athletic QB with veteran savvy is the next challenge that he’ll face. Rejuvenated and energized, Clark sounds ready to attack that challenge with the same type of ferocity and effort that we saw to end the 2019 season.
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