FRISCO — There’s inherently more involved in this Sunday’s game between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys. Reunions will have that effect.
That doesn’t mean Cowboys defensive tackle Kenny Clark has to participate in it, however.
Clark, like Micah Parsons, is playing a team he was on just a month ago. But Clark, unlike Parsons, hasn’t drawn the same intrigue or headline worthiness that his counterpart has so far. Clark is OK with that.
“It ain’t that serious,” Clark said when asked if Sunday’s game offers potential closure. “I’m here to help the Cowboys get a win. It’s football at the end of the day. I ain’t [trying] to make it bigger than it is. I’m definitely excited, I’m definitely ready to go, and I’m going to prepare my [butt] off to get a win and kick [butt] on Sunday. As far as all that other stuff, I don’t care about that.”
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Getting a win won’t be easy.
While the Cowboys’ defense has struggled, the Packers’ defense has excelled. They’re first in the NFL in points allowed per game (14.7). The Cowboys, meanwhile, are ranked 27th in the league, allowing an average of 30.7 points per game. The Packers are favored by nearly a touchdown.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was quick to say that the team is better off in the present and in the future without Parsons. Through three weeks, it’s been hard to argue for that, especially when compared with how Parsons and the Packers have done.
Clark hasn’t been the problem with the Cowboys’ defense, however. Clark is third on the team in overall defensive grade, per Pro Football Focus. He was brought in to help the Cowboys stop the run. He’s been successful in that. In addition, he also leads the team in pressures, per PFF, with nine.
“At the end of the day, we’re trying to get to 1-0 [this week],” Clark said. “It’s not about me; it’s about the Cowboys getting a win.”
While his focus remains on the field, and while he doesn’t want to pour too much into the off-the-field storylines, Clark does understand that external factors do exist. He spent nine years in Green Bay after they selected him in the first round of the 2016 NFL draft. He recalled on Wednesday the shock of when that ended, saying he even fist-bumped Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst shortly before he found out he was being traded to Dallas. He said he had one phone call with Packers defensive lineman Colby Wooden, a friend of his, but that’s been the extent of his connection with his old team.
Clark said he also doesn’t have any plans to connect with his former teammates or coaches before the game, but he would be open to saying hello before they play on Sunday night.
“I don’t really talk too much before the game,” Clark said. “Those guys know that. I know they’re over there locked in and I’m locked in. We’ll see each other Sunday.”
Parsons will see familiar faces on Sunday, too. Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said he’s looking forward to seeing him, even if Parsons’ pass-rushing potential is already keeping him up at night.
Jones said he doesn’t plan to add to the pageantry of the reunion on game day, however. He said it wouldn’t be “appropriate” to do a tribute to Parsons, who was a Pro Bowl selection in all four years he was here.
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Parsons spoke Wednesday, too, and was asked about that.
“There’s a lot of things I can consider disrespectful throughout this process,” Parsons told reporters, referring to the back-and-forth negotiation that ultimately ended in him being traded to Green Bay, ”but I wouldn’t say the tribute is one of them.”
Clark was even asked on Wednesday if he feels like a “forgotten man” in all of the pregame discourse.
“That’s up to whoever,” he said. “That’s on everybody else. Like I said, I’m here to win.”
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