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Clark injured his foot in Week 1 and had surgery in January
Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark has sat out of team drills in both of the media-open practices of OTAs so far. On Tuesday, we learned the reason why: He’s recovering from an offseason foot surgery.
According to Clark’s press availability, he injured his foot in the first game of the regular season in 2024 and played through the injury throughout the year. He stated that the injury impacted him “a lot” during last season and that he ultimately had foot surgery in January, after the Packers’ playoff loss, to correct the issue. The defensive tackle also has claimed that today’s practice was only the second practice of the year where he participated in the team’s individual drills.
This puts Clark’s 2024 season into better context. Last year, he had a 62.6 overall defensive grade according to Pro Football Focus, by far his worst season of his nine-year career. His pass-rushing grade of 62.7, while primarily playing the three-technique position where he saw more one-on-ones than at nose tackle, was also the worst of his career.
The expectation this year is that Clark will be moving from three-technique to nose tackle, where he’ll be the bigger body opposite of Devonte Wyatt on the Packers’ defensive interior. Last year, T.J. Slaton was the team’s starting nose tackle, but Slaton has since signed with the Cincinnati Bengals in free agency.
Clark is under contract for three more years in Green Bay, as his 2024 extension just begins to kick in this year, but will carry a $32.4 million cap hit in 2026 per Spotrac. In short, this will be a “prove it” year for Clark, a player whom the Packers will either need to move on from next season or convert his $21.5 million in cash in 2026 to a bonus so that they can keep him rostered. At the moment, Green Bay is scheduled to be well over the cap in 2026.
