New Lions linebacker Damone Clark\u2019s arrival in Detroit is anything but a surprise. Detroit needed depth after several linebackers left for free agency, and Clark\u2019s connection to Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard was obvious. Back when Clark played for the purple and gold at LSU, Sheppard was the program\u2019s director of player personnel.<\/p>\n
That LSU bond never breaks, and when it comes to Clark and Sheppard, it\u2019s only expanded since they both found their way to the NFL in their respective roles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI keep in touch with him, obviously just to sharpen my game,\u201d Clark said of Sheppard during his introductory press conference on Wednesday. \u201cMy biggest thing with me, I always want to get better. I don\u2019t want to stay the same. And he tells me when I\u2019m doing good things, he tells me when I need to work on things, and that\u2019s all part of it. I\u2019m a sponge, I want to learn as much as I can, because I know the player that I can be and I know the player that I want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clark is looking for his career to take the next step after he\u2019s hit a bit of a plateau. Drafted in the fifth round of the 2022 draft, Clark managed to beat the odds and quickly find his way on the field. He started five games in his rookie season and was the full-time, 17-game starter with the Dallas Cowboys in 2023. He was reduced to a reserve role the following year, and when regime change hit Dallas in 2025, he was waived and picked up by the Houston Texans, where he played almost entirely as a four-core special teamer.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy role last year decreased on the defensive side, but it increased on the special teams side, and that\u2019s okay,\u201d Clark said. \u201cLike I say, every morning I wake up, and I just thank god for the opportunity, because I got homeboys and people back at the crib that would do anything just to be on practice squad, something like that. So, you have to make the most of every opportunity and put that in the forefront of your mind, that guys wish to be in this position.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking to Detroit, he sees an opportunity to compete and an opportunity to grow. And that starts with working alongside Sheppard, who Clark has seen develop Detroit\u2019s linebacker room into a point of strength.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re seeing guys that Shep has coached and developed, like, who wouldn\u2019t want that to be them?\u201d Clark said. \u201cWho wouldn\u2019t want that to be them, just to get that opportunity to get that coaching. And you go out on Sundays, you\u2019re out there flying around, making plays. That makes yourself proud, it makes your family proud, but it also makes your coaches proud, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Clark knows everything still needs to be earned. One thing he\u2019s always loved about Sheppard is his ability to talk straight with you. He knows that just because he and Sheppard go way back, the Lions\u2019 defensive coordinator won\u2019t be playing favorites.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no homeboys in this business,\u201d Clark said. \u201cLike, you need to come in here, put your head down, and go to work, and the best man will win.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Lions linebacker Damone Clark\u2019s arrival in Detroit is anything but a surprise. Detroit needed depth after several…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":821083,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[146,113,153,1889,2506,7,147,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-821082","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-lions","8":"tag-detroit","9":"tag-detroit-lions","10":"tag-detroit-lions-news","11":"tag-detroit-lions-quotes","12":"tag-detroitlions","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-lions","15":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116255820794359791","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=821082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/821082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/821083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=821082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=821082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=821082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}