GREEN BAY, Wisconsin – A healthy Kenny Clark is a Kenny Clark who is hard to keep out of the backcourt.
Clark started all 16 games in 2019 and was routinely dominant. He posted six sacks and 11 stuffs (one tackle on or behind the line of scrimmage vs. the run). His 89 tackles gave him a tackle rate of 9.8 snaps. His average tackle was 1.9 yards downfield, according to Sports Info Solutions.
On the way into 2020, Clark envisioned the next step in his career and the Packers paid the 24-year-old Dominator $ 70 million for it with a four-year extension. Instead, Clark suffered a groin injury in the Minnesota opener that kept him away from three games. In 13 games he had two bags and three things – the latter as many as Montravius Adams. His 41 tackles gave him a tackle rate of 14.5 snaps. His average tackle of 2.6 yards downfield was the worst of his career.
Clark is healthy and ready to get his way all over again for a unit led by new Defense Coordinator Joe Barry.
“Every time I’m healthy, my game and season speak for themselves,” said Clark after Thursday’s practice session. “When I’m healthy, I’m fine. With my groin it was like a curse situation. I tried to do a cross chop, my foot slipped on the floor as usual and it just popped. But towards the end of the season I started to play the way I normally play and happy with the way I ended the season. “
He is right. After two sacks in the regular season, he had 2.5 in the playoffs. Of its 32 total loads (including playoffs), 17 came during the last four regular season games and the two playoff games, according to Pro Football Focus. He dominated against Tampa Bay in the NFC Championship Game. His eight tackles resulted in a net gain of eight yards. His 11 playoff tackles resulted in minus 4 yards thanks to 1.5 sacks against the Rams.
The playoff binge was part of a career with hot goals. In five seasons he has posted 18.5 bags in the regular season. With the split sacks, he was involved in 20 quarterback takedowns. Eleven of them came in December. He also had four sacks in play in the January playoff games.
“This is something that’s trending for me,” he said. “I’ll play well all season but towards the end of the season for some reason I just start turning it on. I don’t know why that is, but that is it. “
Clark was incredibly explosive doing single exercises on Thursday. The pads will not continue until Monday. In these battles against the offensive line, a defensive lineman can really improve his craft. But even in those shorts-and-helmet sessions, the basics of fine-tuning need to be worked on. Before training, Clark was all alone, practicing his movements against a large dummy.
“As long as I’m healthy, everyone who faces me will do their best in every game,” he said. “I have a lot of faith in myself and how I play the game and what style I play. So my main focus is getting better, getting better, working on all the things I need to work on, staying sharp in my techniques and playing with that aggressive mindset, playing with that fire and just getting healthy stay. Because when I’m healthy, it all speaks for itself. “
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