We know from last season that Frank plays hurt. Last season it was his neck, and we didn't hear about it until more than halfway through the season. But other than sitting out part of the second half of the Colts game last year and another game for his stomach(?), he played, and never said a word about his neck.
Contrast that with Dee and Houston taking vacations for a small pile of nagging injuries during their time in KC.
Availability is a primary characteristic that separates good from great. Eric Berry being an easy example. He was great when he was on the field, but towards the end he just wasn't available enough.
Frank isn't playing great, but he's been available every week (except 1?), and he holds down his side of the line. Hell, teams don't really try to run to his side much anymore. They don't even try to throw screens to his side very much if he's out there. Just being on the field essentially shuts down a box of the field from about 3 yards into the backfield out to the sideline and upfield about 7 yards.
If his knee gets better, he'll be a force once again in the playoffs.
And this thread will be a laughingstock over the offseason once again.
How about a little update, then? From Frank or from the coaches.
Put him on the injury report or something. Do something to make us believe in Clark. Don't just say nothing and then have us question for basically 1.5 seasons whether he's actually any good at all. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RealSNR:
How about a little update, then? From Frank or from the coaches.
Put him on the injury report or something. Do something to make us believe in Clark. Don't just say nothing and then have us question for basically 1.5 seasons whether he's actually any good at all.
I have no idea if Clark is playing hurt. I just know what his stats are and what his production is.
That said, if he is hurt, I don’t think the coaching staff owes the fans any explanation. What we think really doesn’t matter outside of this board.
If they are hiding an injury, I trust that Reid is doing so strategically. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RealSNR:
How about a little update, then? From Frank or from the coaches.
Put him on the injury report or something. Do something to make us believe in Clark. Don't just say nothing and then have us question for basically 1.5 seasons whether he's actually any good at all.
Fortunately or not, that's not my department. But I get what you're saying.
I don't know why (for obvious reasons) Spags doesn't tell us much about what's going on with injuries. We'd probably have to go back and watch his pressers from his early days with PHI, NYG and/or STL to see if he was any different, or if he's always kind of held back that kind of info.
Personally I think it could be kind of like Andy's "he's day-to-day," thing. Or, Spags might just be keeping things to himself as a matter of gamesmanship. Kind of like how SP didn't tell anyone that Brees was going to start until Friday or whatever.
Or maybe Frank doesn't tell anyone when he's hurt, until he has to.
Lot of questions with no real way of getting answers. [Reply]
We know from last season that Frank plays hurt. Last season it was his neck, and we didn't hear about it until more than halfway through the season. But other than sitting out part of the second half of the Colts game last year and another game for his stomach(?), he played, and never said a word about his neck.
Contrast that with Dee and Houston taking vacations for a small pile of nagging injuries during their time in KC.
Availability is a primary characteristic that separates good from great. Eric Berry being an easy example. He was great when he was on the field, but towards the end he just wasn't available enough.
Frank isn't playing great, but he's been available every week (except 1?), and he holds down his side of the line. Hell, teams don't really try to run to his side much anymore. They don't even try to throw screens to his side very much if he's out there. Just being on the field essentially shuts down a box of the field from about 3 yards into the backfield out to the sideline and upfield about 7 yards.
If his knee gets better, he'll be a force once again in the playoffs.
And this thread will be a laughingstock over the offseason once again.
That's dumb as hell. If his injury is bad enough to basically make him ineffective as a pass rusher, he absolutely should sit and try to heal. [Reply]
Originally Posted by -King-:
That's dumb as hell. If his injury is bad enough to basically make him ineffective as a pass rusher, he absolutely should sit and try to heal.
Again, above my paygrade. But feel free to rant as if I have any say in the matter anyway.:-)
All we know for certain is that Spags mentioned that Frank's been dealing with a knee issue for a few weeks now. We don't know how bad it is, other than Frank can evidently still get on the field.
There is no doubt in my mind that Frank Clark hurt something or got some funky ass illness the off-season he was traded here and has never recovered.
I know he had that great post season, but even those sacks were nothing like the sacks/pressures he got with Seattle. In Seattle this dude was a beast and ever since he's been here he hasn't looked anywhere close to that guy. [Reply]
Originally Posted by -King-:
That's dumb as hell. If his injury is bad enough to basically make him ineffective as a pass rusher, he absolutely should sit and try to heal.
Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud:
75% or more of NFL players play through injuries.
That's the deal. No one is 100% healthy.
.....I know. But if it's affecting his ability to do his primary responsibility (rush the passer) then it is something he should sit for. For his own and the teams sake. [Reply]
He’s looked better the last two weeks and quite honestly was the only DL I noticed getting quick pressure on several snaps against NO. Craig Stout, who puts out individual pressure rates each week after games, had Clark leading the team at 14% against the Saints (10% is considered to be pretty good historically). And that was while dropping into coverage on 10% of the snaps, also a high number relative to normal. That all matched my own eye test.
So two weeks in a row now he’s picked up his production. My prediction? He balls out in the playoffs again and maybe once and for all we can shut the **** up about if he’s worth the money or not. [Reply]
Originally Posted by : With the Chiefs' defensive line dropping into coverage at an unprecedented rate for Spagnuolo, there naturally weren’t many chances for the Chiefs to pin their ears back and get after Brees. Coupled with a quick passing game and an excellent offensive line, it was going to take quite the task to rattle Brees this week.
That didn’t stop Frank Clark, who looked more like himself than we’ve seen since the beginning of the year. It wasn’t just Clark leading the team in pressure rate — and forcing two holds (one of them declined), it was how he did it that should have Chiefs fans excited.
Clark displayed strength, flexibility, and a full arsenal of pass rush moves that gave fits to one of the league’s best tackle combinations. While not all of the plays shown above were classified as pressures, the effect that Clark — and other pass rushers — had on Brees is undeniable. He was throwing off his back foot often, throwing too early in the route, and his overall accuracy was diminished.
Some fans may look at the box score of this game — or even think back on what they saw live — and think that Clark struggled for most of this matchup. I argue that it was quite the contrary, and Clark caused a fair number of inaccurate throws because he was beating two top-tier tackles, especially early in the game.
And Stout makes a great point at the end too. These Saints OTs are as good as it gets. Clark still did some great work against them and did look different, as he did against Miami. [Reply]
Originally Posted by pugsnotdrugs19:
The Clark slander is over the top at this point.
He’s looked better the last two weeks and quite honestly was the only DL I noticed getting quick pressure on several snaps against NO. Craig Stout, who puts out individual pressure rates each week after games, had Clark leading the team at 14% against the Saints (10% is considered to be pretty good historically). And that was while dropping into coverage on 10% of the snaps, also a high number relative to normal. That all matched my own eye test.
So two weeks in a row now he’s picked up his production. My prediction? He balls out in the playoffs again and maybe once and for all we can shut the **** up about if he’s worth the money or not.
All that would prove is he's a lazy asshole who can't be bothered to show up in the regular season.
As a guy brought in to "change the culture," that would make him a complete failure. He's supposed to set the tone for the rest of the defense. If our team actually followed his example we'd be fucked. [Reply]
