After OTAs on Tuesday, Green Bay Packers veteran defensive lineman Kenny Clark revealed he had a foot injury that led to offseason surgery.
“Tough year for me,” Clark said. “Had surgery on my foot in January. … It affected me a lot,” Clark said, adding it got caught in the turf during the season opener in Brazil. “I hurt it in the Brazil game. … I always had a little toe thing going on. It was really just the turf out there.”
Clark was on the injury report for most of the season with a toe injury, but we didn’t know how serious it was. It turns out it was a bunion and bone spur issue that required surgery. A bunion is basically a deformed big toe that can mess up the foot’s alignment. It causes pain in the foot and can also cause related issues in the knee joints, hips, and lower back.
That would explain a lot. Clark had a down season relative to his standards, tallying just one sack. It looked like he was declining as he nears 30 after playing more snaps than a typical 29-year-old. However, having a serious toe/foot injury could have been the reason.
“I wouldn’t say it’s the speed. It’s just every step,”Clarktold reporters. “You’re taking every step, and your toe is busted.”
He doesn’t want to use that as an excuse, though. “Football is football,” he said, and injuries happen. However, he’s ready to get back out there and work because, “It’s going to be easier, I’m excited about it.”
Clark also complimented Green Bay’s new defensive line coach, Demarcus Covington.
“DC’s been great,” said Clark. “He’s really hands-on with us, really teaching us the techniques, the formations, and how to play faster within that.”
Clark continued to emphasize how different the technique was from last season. He said they’re working on defending against the run, play action, quick game, and rushing more cohesively as a unit.
Learning that Clark was dealing with a serious injury last season, along with the arrival of a new defensive line coach, makes it easier to see him having a bounce-back season.
TJ Slaton departed this offseason, and the Packers didn’t address the interior defensive line until late in the draft. Therefore, they seem to be signaling moving Clark back to nose tackle, his more natural and productive position. Playing nose from 2018 to 2022, Clark averaged 52 pressures and 5.8 sacks per season with a 77.5PFF grade while missing six games over those five seasons. Last season, he had only one sack, 34 pressures, and a 59.3PFF grade in 17 games. That’s not going to cut it.
Moving Clark back to nose isn’t going to fix everything. We shouldn’t expect him to produce like he did in his prime. However, if his foot injury truly diminished his abilities, moving back to playing more in the A gap would free him up. He should be able to return to a 45-50 pressure, five-sack player, which would rank him in the top 25 among defensive interior playersper PFF.
Having that player in the middle of the defense would make a significant difference. Clark knows that the pass rush wasn’t consistent enough last season. “Pass rush was on and off,” he said, “[was] not good enough to win a championship.”
Going into the third season of the Jordan Love era, competing for a championship will be among those expectations. Going into the second season of the Jeff Hafley era, people will expect Green Bay’s defense to be championship caliber, and Clark and the pass rush will be a huge part of that.
The defense has also gathered at his house for film review and team bonding this past season and throughout this offseason. “He’s never seen anything like it this early in the offseason,” said Rashan Gary.
They are determined to build on their success last season and put it all together this season. If we don’t get a resurgence from Clark, we could be nearing the end of his time in Green Bay. “If I’m putting bad stuff on tape,” he said, “get me outta here.”
Hopefully, that isn’t the case, and we are celebrating the grit he displayed to fight through that injury, then bounce back the next season.