The veteran Clark, who was acquired from the Green Bay Packers in the Micah Parsons trade, said he’s been a part of some poor defensive showing against the run, but not a unit that’s been giving up yards like this.
Last year was the first time that Clark played in a 4-3 front under new Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. Matt Eberflus is deploying the same base look now in Dallas, who is working with their third defensive coordinator in as many years. Does that make it a difficult scheme to understand?
“No, it’s a four-down front, attack front,” Clark said. “Everybody pretty much, in a four-three defense, everybody’s got one gap to fill.”
That was part of the teaching point and message that Eberflus relayed to his team on Monday when they met to break down the Panthers game.
“Just the details of the defense,” Clark said of what Eberflus’ message was to his unit. “We went through everything. Holding each other accountable and focusing on the details of what we need to do. Everybody’s just looking in the mirror and figuring that stuff out.”
So, with most of the defensive personnel having been around since minicamp in the offseason to now six weeks into the regular season, why are some of the details still not down for the Cowboys?
“Honestly, I’m not sure. That’s a good question. That’s the biggest question of them all,” Clark said. “It’s just us holding each other accountable and just getting to the bottom of that. We can’t go all year playing defense like this, especially with how our offense is playing. If we can match that, we’re going to be a really tough team to beat.”