'Stone-cold serious' Chuck Clark brings reliability to Lions secondary
Allen Park The Detroit Lions made a concerted effort to get younger this offseason, with the average age of their non-rookie external signees coming in at a hair above 26 years old.But they made an exception for Chuck Clark.Clark, 31, is one of three players on Detroit's roster at 31 years or older, along with quarterbacks Jared Goff (31) and Teddy Bridgewater (33). The veteran safety is entering his 10th professional season. He's made 123 appearances and 80 starts, and his 5,383 career snaps on defense in the regular season make him the second-most experienced defensive back on the team, behind cornerback DJ. Reed (5,638). The next closest safety is Avonte Maddox at 3,582 reps."When Chuck's on the field, you know where the safety is, you know what the check is, you know what the communication is, and that's vital and important," Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said June 11. "You talk about explosive plays, well, that's the No. 1 component to limiting those, making sure we're all on the same page. ... Take ability aside, Chuck Clark on the field is rarely to never a mistake or an MA (missed assignment) with the back end, and that's because everybody knows who is in charge, because he makes it known."So, that's the first word I would say: Leader, leader, leader."With regular starters Kerby Joseph (knee) and Brian Branch (Achilles) dealing with injuries, Clark worked with the first-team defense throughout OTAs and mandatory minicamp, banking walkthrough and situational reps with his new teammates. He recorded a takeaway Tuesday, intercepting a pass intended for receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.Selected 186th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft, Clark played sparingly across his first two seasons before taking on more responsibilities midway through the 2019 campaign, when then-starter Tony Jefferson went down with a torn ACL in October.Clark was a full-time starter for the remainder of his time with the Ravens (2017-22) and held the same role when healthy with the New York Jets (2023-24). He made five starts in 15 games as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers last season, and he was Pittsburgh's highest-graded defender in its wild-card loss to the Houston Texans in January.He's also previously donned the green dot on his helmet, communicating plays to his defensive teammates."Every rep to him is meaningful," Lions safeties coach Jim O'Neil said Wednesday. "He appreciates being here.I think he is stone-cold serious about football. And he takes notes like he's a rookie. But how he can anticipate out on the grass and how quickly he can process and make guys around him better is a quality that's hard to evaluate unless you have them actually in the building. That's really hard to evaluate in a draft, that's really hard to evaluate in free agency. Because you're not experiencing that firsthand."There's not a lot of what I call alpha communicators in the back seven.He's one of them. He can run the whole show. He can run it all back there.So, I've been really, really impressed with him ... and I think he'll really, really help us as the season goes on."Described as an old soul even in his first few seasons, Clark takes an all-business approach to his craft. Sheppard joked he hadn't yet seen Clark smile, "and that's not because hes a bad guy or nothing," but because "this means something to him."For however long Joseph and Branch remain sidelined, Clark figures to be a reliable understudy, a calming presence in a secondary with questions."When it comes to athletic ability, can he still do certain things? That's still yet to be seen, and training camp will allow us ... to see what he is capable of doing," Sheppard said. "But from everything I have seen so far, this is the player I saw on tape, previous to his career. More importantly, the leadership has been outstanding from that player.rsilva@detroitnews.com@rich_silva18This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Chuck Clark is 'stone-cold serious' about role with Detroit Lions
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