Chiefs DE Frank Clark Resolves Criminal Charges
2021 was a difficult year for Chiefs DE Frank Clark from a legal perspective. In March 2021, the three-time Pro Bowler was arrested for possession of a concealed firearm, and in June 2021, he was arrested again when police officers conducted a traffic stop and noticed an Uzi in an open bag in Clark’s vehicle. Earlier this month, it was reported that Clark has resolved those charges.
Per the Associated Press, Clark pleaded no contest to two counts of misdemeanor possession of an assault weapon, and he was sentenced to one year of probation and 40 hours of community service. Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk writes that Clark will be due back in court on March 29, 2023 to prove that he has completed his sentence. Williams also notes that the judge required Clark to host four free youth football camps, which he has already done.
Now 29, Clark was rumored as a release candidate earlier this year given the hefty cap charges that he was due to carry over the 2022-23 seasons. Rather than release him, Kansas City ultimately decided to keep Clark in the fold via a new two-year deal worth $29MM (with incentives that could push that number to $36MM).
Over the first two games of the 2022 campaign, both Chiefs wins, Clark has appeared in 60% of the team’s defensive snaps. He has yet to record a sack and has posted three total tackles.
Under his present contract, Clark is due a $20.5MM base salary in 2023, and KC can release him to save $10MM against the cap while incurring a $9.075MM dead money charge. Given his declining sack totals over the past several years and his slow start to the current season, a release or another restructure presently looks like the most likely outcome next offseason.
As Williams observes, Clark could still face punishment under the league’s personal conduct policy for the gun charges.
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/15/22
Today’s minor NFL transactions:
Detroit Lions
- Placed on IR: G Tommy Kraemer
Green Bay Packers
- Released from IR: WR Malik Taylor
Kansas City Chiefs
- Promoted: K Matt Ammendola, CB Dicaprio Bootle
Los Angeles Chargers
- Promoted: R Jason Moore, TE Richard Rodgers
Chargers CB J.C. Jackson To Play Tonight
J.C. Jackson will make his Chargers debut tonight. James Palmer of NFL Network reports (on Twitter) that the cornerback will play tonight against the Chiefs.
Jackson was considered a game-time decision coming into Thursday. The offseason acquisition missed Week 1 while recovering from late-August ankle surgery. Palmer notes that the cornerback looked good during practice this week, and he’ll give it a go tonight against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
The 26-year-old joined Los Angeles this offseason on a five-year, $82.5MM contract. He’s expected to slide in opposite former second-round pick Asante Samuel Jr. at cornerback. Michael Davis, who got into 100 percent of the Chargers’ defensive snaps in Week 1, will likely see a backup role with Jackson in the lineup.
Jackson spent the first four seasons of his career in New England, evolving from an undrafted rookie into a second-team All-Pro. The cornerback has 25 career interceptions in 62 career games, including 17 picks over the past two years. He also led the league with 23 passes defended in 2021.
Elsewhere on the injury front for Thursday Night Football, Chiefs offensive lineman Trey Smith will play tonight, according to Palmer (via Twitter). The lineman suffered an ankle injury during Kansas City’s Week 1 victory, leading to a questionable designation heading into tonight’s game. After being a limited participant in practice on Tuesday, he was a full participant on Wednesday.
AFC Injury Notes: Ravens, Watt, Bengals
J.K. Dobbins returned to practice today, with the running back hoping to make his long-awaited return to the field this Sunday. The Ravens running back admitted that his injury “wasn’t just a normal ACL,” with Dobbins explaining that he tore his ACL, LCL, hamstring, and meniscus at the end of the 2021 preseason (per ESPN’s Jamison Hensley on Twitter). It’s been just over a year since Dobbins suffered his injury.
“It would mean the world to me if I can go out there this Sunday and play well in front of a full house,” Dobbins said (via Hensley).
Fellow running back Gus Edwards also missed the entire 2021 season with a torn ACL, but thanks to his placement on PUP, he’ll have to sit out the first four games of the season. Still, Edwards took to Instagram to tell fans that he continues to progress in his recovery and eventual return to the field.
“For everybody wondering about my recovery I’m doing great and I’m very close,” Edwards wrote.
More injury notes from around the AFC…
- The news keeps getting better for T.J. Watt and the Steelers. The star linebacker could recover from his partially torn pectoral muscle within five weeks, according to Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com. There was initial fear that Watt had completely torn his pec, which would have ended his season. The news quickly got better; we learned yesterday that Watt wouldn’t need surgery and could be back within six weeks.
- Bengals long snapper Clark Harris is expected to miss an extended amount of time after tearing his biceps, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter). While Zac Taylor didn’t want to rule out the LS for the season, he did acknowledge that the 38-year-old will miss at least a few months (via ESPN’s Ben Baby on Twitter). Harris, a one-time Pro Bowler, has been with the organization since 2009. Cal Adomitis will get the first shot to replace Harris at long snapper.
- J.C. Jackson has been listed as questionable for tomorrow’s game against the Chiefs, and Chargers head coach Brandon Staley said earlier this week that the cornerback has a “50-50” shot at playing (per NFL Network’s James Palmer on Twitter). Jackson previously suffered an ankle injury that forced him to miss the team’s Week 1 victory over the Raiders. After earning a second-team All-Pro nod with the Patriots in 2021, Jackson joined Los Angeles this offseason on a five-year, $82.5MM deal. Meanwhile, both Chargers wideout Keenan Allen (hamstring) and Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker (ankle) have been ruled out for Thursday’s showdown.
- Mac Jones dealt with back spasms following the Patriots‘ Week 1 loss to the Dolphins, but the quarterback continues to improve, according to NFL Network’s Mike Giardi (on Twitter). A source told Giardi that the QB is “doing everything he needs to” in order to be on the field for this weekend’s matchup against the Steelers. Jones and the Patriots offense struggled during the season opener, with the second-year QB guiding New England to only one touchdown.
Minor NFL Transactions: 9/13/22
Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Atlanta Falcons
- Promoted: TE Anthony Firkser
Baltimore Ravens
- Placed on IR: CB Kyle Fuller (story), T Ja’Wuan James (story)
Carolina Panthers
- Released from IR via injury settlement: LB Isaiah Graham-Mobley
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: CB Thomas Graham Jr.
Indianapolis Colts
- Promoted: CB Tony Brown
Kansas City Chiefs
- Promoted: LB Jack Cochrane, LB Elijah Lee
Los Angeles Chargers
- Released from IR via injury settlement: CB Tevaughn Campbell
Los Angeles Rams
- Placed on IR: RB Kyren Williams (story)
New England Patriots
- Placed on IR: RB Ty Montgomery
- Promoted: WR Lil’Jordan Humphrey
Philadelphia Eagles
- Placed on IR: DE Derek Barnett (story)
- Signed off Vikings’ practice squad: DE Janarius Robinson
San Francisco 49ers
- Promoted: S Tashaun Gipson
Tennessee Titans
- Placed on IR: DL Da’Shawn Hand, DB A.J. Moore Jr.
Hand suffered a torn quad in the Titans’ opener, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). He is undergoing surgery and is expected to miss the rest of the season. A former fourth-round Lions draftee back in 2018, Hand has been with the Titans since last year. He played two defensive snaps Sunday.
Montgomery had battled a knee injury during the run-up to the regular season, but the veteran passing-down back played in the Patriots’ Week 1 contest. Montgomery caught three passes for 15 yards in New England’s loss. The Pats signed Humphrey, a former Saints wideout, midway through the offseason.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/13/22
Here are Tuesday’s practice squad additions and subtractions:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed: OL Koda Martin
Atlanta Falcons
- Signed: CB Dylan Mabin
Chicago Bears
- Signed: DB Harrison Hand
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: CB Herb Miller, WR Chester Rogers
Denver Broncos
- Signed: TE Dominique Dafney
- Released: TE Dylan Parham
Houston Texans
- Signed: DB BoPete Keyes
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: CB Darrell Baker Jr., S Henry Black, K Lucas Havrisik, K Chase McLaughlin (story)
- Released: G Arlington Hambright, S Will Redmond, CB Chris Wilcox
Kansas City Chiefs
- Signed: CB Dicaprio Bootle, WR Corey Coleman
- Released: S James Wiggins
Las Vegas Raiders
- Released: DT Kyle Peko
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: DT Breiden Fehoko
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: LS Matt Overton
- Placed on practice squad injured list: DB Daniel Isom
New Orleans Saints
- Released: WR Dai’Jean Dixon
New York Jets
- Signed: P Ty Long
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Signed: OLB Ryan Anderson (story), TE Rodney Williams
San Francisco 49ers
- Signed: OL Keith Ismael, RB Marlon Mack (story)
- Released: OL Keaton Sutherland, WR Connor Wedington
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Released: TE J.J. Howland
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: DB Nate Brooks
Washington Commanders
- Signed: DT Benning Potoa’e
- Released: S Ferrod Gardner
Chiefs Place CB Trent McDuffie On IR
A hamstring injury will limit Trent McDuffie‘s rookie-year participation. The Chiefs placed the first-round cornerback pick on IR Tuesday.
McDuffie played 32 defensive snaps in the Chiefs’ Week 1 win over the Cardinals. After suffering the injury, McDuffie was carted to the visitors’ locker room. The Chiefs will shut him down for at least four games.
After letting Charvarius Ward defect to San Francisco in free agency in March. While the Chiefs have formed a trend of not devoting much money to their cornerback spot in recent years, they did replace Ward via the draft. After acquiring an additional first-round pick via the Tyreek Hill trade, the Chiefs used it to move into position for McDuffie — this year’s No. 21 overall choice.
As expected, McDuffie worked as a starter in his first NFL game. The former Pac-12 standout, who turns 22 today, should be expected to return when first eligible (Week 6) or not long after. The Chiefs used seventh-round rookie Jaylen Watson in McDuffie’s place following the injury; Rashad Fenton and L’Jarius Sneed reside as Kansas City’s top healthy cornerbacks. The Chiefs drafted three corners this year. The other one, fourth-rounder Joshua Williams, joins Chris Lammons in rounding out the team’s active-roster contingent at this position.
With the fifth-year option allowing the Chiefs to keep McDuffie through 2026 on his rookie contract, the team obviously has high hopes for the 5-foot-11 defender. No other former Day 1 or Day 2 picks are on Kansas City’s roster at the position. McDuffie was the Chiefs’ first Round 1 corner selection since fellow Washington product Marcus Peters in 2015.
With K Harrison Butker Ailing, Chiefs Sign Kicker To Practice Squad
Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker is dealing with an ankle injury from the team’s season opener. He returned to the game later on, but the injury may be more serious than initially thought as Kansas City opted to add former Jets kicker Matt Ammendola to their practice squad tonight, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. 
Butker slipped on the kickoff following the Kansas City’s opening scoring drive yesterday and limped off the field with a hurt ankle. The Chiefs trotted out safety Justin Reid for the next two extra point attempts, which he split one for two. After Reid’s missed extra point attempt, the Chiefs brought Butker back for field goals and extra points, but kept Reid as the kickoff specialist.
Seeing Butker’s return inspired hope that his injury was not too serious, but today’s signing hints that there might be reason to worry. Ammendola was the winner of what was a kicking contest between several free agents today, according to another tweet from Pelissero. He beat out Elliott Fry, Chase McLaughlin, Cody Parkey, Tristan Vizcaino, and rookie Cameron Dicker.
Ammendola went undrafted two years ago out of Oklahoma State. He eventually spent a few months in the offseason leading up to the 2021 season with the Panthers before signing with the Jets. He made his NFL debut in New York, playing in 11 games. Ammendola was perfect from within 40 yards, going 11 for 11, but struggled from a distance going two for eight on kicks longer than 40 yards, including missing all three kicks from over 50 yards. He was mostly reliable on extra points, though, converting 14 of his 15 attempts. He also served double-duty doing kickoffs and punts for the Jets.
It’s not a foregone conclusion that Ammendola is kicking for the Chiefs this week, but placing him on the practice squad allows the Chiefs to call him up on a day’s notice if Butker is not feeling 100-percent leading up to the team’s Thursday night matchup against the Chargers.
Week 1 Injury Roundup: Butker, Jones, Higgins, Rookies
Early in its Week 1 matchup against the Cardinals, Kansas City watched their kicker get carted off the field after Harrison Butker slipped on the kickoff following the team’s opening scoring drive, according to ESPN’s Field Yates. The injury brought on speculation that Chiefs safety Justin Reid may be forced to step in for kicks.
Fortunately, Butker’s injury wasn’t serious enough to keep him permanently out of the game as the sixth-year kicker made his way back onto the field at the end the second half to attempt (and convert) a 54-yard field goal. Still, the Chiefs did play it safe with Butker, calling on Reid to attempt two extra points following Butker’s slip. Reid was successful on his first extra point attempt but missed his second, likely leading to Butker’s return on the field.
Butker kicked the extra points for the remainder of the game, but Kansas City did elect to hold him off the field for kickoffs, letting Reid serve as the kickoff specialist for the rest of the day.
Here are a few other injury notes from around the first week of NFL games, starting with today’s matchup down by South Beach:
- In a rough opening road trip for the Patriots, quarterback Mac Jones was not made available to the media as he was instructed to go to the X-ray room with a back injury, according to Jim McBride of the Boston Globe. The x-rays turned out to be negative, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, but the team will seek further evaluation on his back injury when they return to Foxborough. It’s unclear at what point in the game Jones suffered the injury, but the 24-year-old completed the game without visible issue.
- Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins exited the game versus the Steelers today with a concussion after receiving a big hit in the second quarter, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. Star receiver Ja’Marr Chase produced as expected, but running back Joe Mixon and new tight end Hayden Hurst had to step up in the passing game with Higgins out. If the concussion keeps Higgins out next week, as well, the Bengals will depend on Tyler Boyd, Mike Thomas, Trent Taylor, and Stanley Morgan to make up for Higgins’ lost production.
- Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season saw three second-round rookies go down with injuries. The Commanders added one big piece to their defense this offseason in former-Alabama defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis. In the first quarter of NFL play for the rookie, Mathis went down awkwardly on his left leg, according to Charean Williams of NBC Sports, and did not return to the game. Mathis immediately reached for is knee and showed a flash of anger as the Commanders’ medical staff diagnosed the situation. Mathis isn’t a starter but, if the rookie is forced to miss significant time with the injury, it should mean more snaps for second-year defensive tackle Daniel Wise.
- The Vikings also saw a second-round pick go down when former-Clemson cornerback Andrew Booth left the game with a quad injury, according to Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune. Injuries have plagued the rookie in the past and, if he is forced to miss more time, the Vikings will likely turn to Chandon Sullivan, Kris Boyd, and fellow rookie Akayleb Evans to fill in.
- The Giants added rookie wideout Wan’Dale Robinson to their list of injured receivers, along with Darius Slayton and Collin Johnson, as he left the game today with a knee injury, according to Dan Salomone of Giants.com. Robinson had leapt ahead of Sterling Shepard to start the game alongside Kenny Golladay and Kadarius Toney before suffering the injury. The severity of the ailment is unknown for now, but Shepard should be able to step back into a starting role if Robinson is expected to miss a significant amount of time.
2022 Offseason In Review Series
This season will feature 12 new Week 1 starting quarterbacks, though the Jets’ decision is the result of an injury rather than a roster move. High-profile wide receivers also changed teams, igniting one of the biggest market shifts a single position has seen. The Offseason In Review series is now complete. Here are the PFR staff’s looks at how the 32 NFL teams assembled their 2022 rosters.