Kenny Clark quietly steadies Cowboys as the player that came in the Micah Parsons trade

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Kenny Clark focused on his new teammates after the stocky defensive tackle was traded to the Dallas Cowboys in the blockbuster deal that sent Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers a week before the season.

That’s all Clark could do in the whirlwind of the moment as the only tangible and immediate return for a passionate fan base losing one of the most dynamic players in the NFL.

“Like I said weeks before, everybody’s just been welcoming me,” said Clark, who had to say goodbye to the Packers after nine seasons and almost immediately play in the NFL opener at defending champion Philadelphia, a suddenly new division rival in the NFC East. “I’m all about the people. And the people here have been great. My teammates have been great. That’s all you can ask for.”

What the Cowboys (3-4-1), who host Arizona (2-5) on Monday night, got in return was a steadying influence for what has been a mostly rough ride for a defense that ranks among the worst in the league.

Clark hasn’t hidden from reporters at the storied franchise’s vast headquarters in the suburbs north of Dallas. He stopped outside the locker room to chat with a smaller group of writers, beyond the view of cameras, after a particularly troublesome performance by the defense in a loss at Carolina.

He answered the rosier questions after the best showing of the season in a win over Washington, and again when the issue was consistency in another poor showing at Denver last week.

Clark isn’t a vocal leader, but recognized he was immediately one of the most vested veterans the minute he walked into the Dallas locker room. That’s where keeping the focus on people helped.

“That’s what makes me happy to come into work and work every day,” Clark said. “That’s what keeps you going. You spend a lot more time with these guys than you do with your own family sometimes. Everybody’s got to be on the same page. It’s a true brotherhood when you come in here, so you’ve got to treat it that way.”

Clark earned the respect of his new teammates by working the same way he did in Green Bay: asking questions, taking notes, treating all the reps the same.

The 30-year-old says he learned that from the Packers veterans he joined as a first-round pick out of UCLA in 2016, the same year star quarterback Dak Prescott went in the fourth round to the Cowboys.

First-year Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer prides himself on getting to know his players as people. He realized recently there’s a hole in that resume as it relates to Clark.

“The way he practices, I don’t know where he learned that,” Schottenheimer said. “Actually, I should ask him.”

Whatever the answer, new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus has noticed, too.

“I wasn’t happy with a couple of walkthrough reps and I showed them that,” Eberflus said, recalling a moment from last month. “And the ones I showed that were really good was him. Really taking his steps, feet, hands and eyes, going through the rudiments of the game, even in the walkthrough. We have to all do that all the time. So there’s a process to it. And he understands that process. That’s why he’s played 10 years.”

Clark looks the part of a defensive run stopper, a wide frame at 6-foot-3 and 314 pounds with a low center of gravity. He’s a three-time Pro Bowler who has moved beyond an injury-filled 2024 season to give the Cowboys what they sought.

Owner and general manager Jerry Jones said he wouldn’t have done the deal without Clark as Dallas tried to improve a persistently subpar run defense. The trade, which gave the Cowboys an extra first-round pick each of the next two drafts, came after months of a contract stalemate with Parsons.

The numbers still aren’t good — the Cowboys entered the week ranked 29th against the run — but the interior of the defensive front is less to blame than it used to be.

Fellow defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa knew Clark better than the rest of his Dallas teammates because Clark played with his older brother, Owa Odighizuwa, at UCLA.

Osa Odighizuwa, a third-round pick by Dallas in 2021, signed an $80 million contract extension during the offseason, not realizing he would soon have a pairing that could be in place a few years. Clark is under contract through 2027.

“I’m like, ‘Well, I know he’s going to help,’” Odighizuwa said of his immediate reaction to the trade. “It’s another veteran guy who knows how to do it right, who knows how to work and is going to be able to, one, fall in line with the culture that we have and then, two, just add to it in terms of adding another leader to the room.”

Clark was clear the day he arrived he wouldn’t spend much time trying to convince anyone of his value (“Man, you gotta just watch the film”). Two months later, his message hasn’t changed.

“All that stuff is behind me,” Clark said. “I’m here now and blessed and excited to be here, just trying to do my best to help this team win football games and just keep getting better.”

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