FRISCO, Texas – Eleven days ago, Kenny Clark was getting ice cream for his daughter and getting ready for the Green Bay Packers’ Week 1 game against the Detroit Lions.
Seven days later, he was taking the field at Lincoln Financial Field as a member of the Dallas Cowboys getting ready to play the reigning Super Bowl champion Eagles with less than a week of time to prepare.
Clark says he felt good in his debut with a star on his helmet, but things would’ve been much better had the scoreboard been tipped in Dallas’ favor.
“Definitely wanted to win. There’s no moral victories in this sport, so we’re trying to do whatever we’ve got to do to get to 1-1…” Clark said.
“I’d only been here a couple days. “For me to learn the playbook and be able to play as fast as I could have, felt pretty good. Still a lot of stuff I’ve got to get better at, and I’m going to work at that every day.”
Across 40 snaps, Clark registered five tackles, two run stuffs and a quarterback pressure against the Eagles. Together, he and Dallas’ defense held Saquon Barkley to 60 yards rushing, the lowest output he’s had against a Cowboys defense since 2023 when he was still on the Giants.
For all the talk about getting used to the scheme and becoming acclimated with what Matt Eberflus wants his defensive tackles to do, Clark saw a more simple approach in his debut with the Cowboys.
“This is what I do. I know how to play. The main thing is just being able to get lined up and I’ll be able to do the rest,” Clark said. “That was my main focus, being able to learn the blitzes, learn the movements, once I get my feet in the ground I’m good.”
While that’s all well and good, there is still a need to learn the ins-and-outs of the Cowboys’ defense, which is an ongoing process that Clark is putting a lot of work into.
“Every day I’m getting better at it,” Clark said. “It’s an everyday improvement. I’ve got a pretty good lock on a lot of things, I’m pretty sure there’ll be some more gameplan stuff that I’ll have to figure out, but I feel comfortable right now.”
Overall, the Cowboys didn’t do a great job of stopping the run, with Philadelphia scoring three touchdowns off 158 yards rushing. That said, Clark and Dallas’ defense knows that improvement on plugging up the ground game will ultimately help them get to the right side of the scoreboard.
“If we can stop guys from running the ball and our offense keeps playing how we’re playing, we’re going to be able to get up on guys and be able to rush the passer late in games,” Clark said. “That’s the goal, we’ve got to keep on stopping the run, keep getting guys behind the sticks and in third and long situations, and just keep playing complimentary football.”
One of the ways Clark and Dallas’ defense hopes they can help accomplish all of those things is by teaming up with Osa Odighizuwa in the middle. So far, so good in that department says Clark.
“Osa is a beast, man,” Clark said. “He’s elusive, explosive, so to get a chance to play with him has been awesome and I know we’re going to wreak havoc together.”
With the Philadelphia game in the rearview mirror now, Clark and the Cowboys have to turn their attention to another NFC East rival in the New York Giants. Clark and Giants quarterback Russell Wilson have faced off seven times in their careers, and Clark knows what to expect in their eighth meeting as well.
“He’s got a great deep ball. If you give him time, he can throw a deep ball, he can scramble out of the pocket, he’s very elusive and he can get the ball out quick,” Clark said. “He’s a vet, he’s been doing it for years, I’ve been playing him for years, and I’ve got a lot of respect for Russell.”
Next Sunday will also mark the first time that Clark plays a home game at a stadium not named Lambeau Field. Instead, he’s looking forward to feeling the love from the Cowboy faithful at AT&T Stadium and give them plenty to leave happy about.
“I can’t wait. I know it’s going to be rocking,” Clark said. “It’s going to be a great divisional game, and a game that we definitely need, so I know the crowd is going to bring it…”
“Our goal is to be 1-1 by the end of the week. We start off 0-1 in the division, we can’t get two games behind.”
