The New York Jets may have a new fiery winning ingredient that adds a needed edge to their Super Bowl run during the 2024 NFL season.
Per Jets team reporter Ethan Greenberg, Jets safety Chuck Clark is out to remind the football world of who he is after missing the entire 2023 season with a torn ACL (h/t Brad Wakai of Fan Nation’s Jets Country):
“People are like, ‘Oh he missed the year, he lost stuff.’ Yeah, alright. Watch,” Clark said.
“I still got that chip on my shoulder. But I think going through that injury process that it just gave me a new gratitude and gratefulness for this game. I missed the whole year, so I got a lot to prove from that sense.”
Jets: Chuck Clark is ready to produce in 2024 after a year off
Clark was a hop, skip, and a jump away from taking the field in 2023 before his ACL tear came in the Jets’ final practice last spring. There were much expectations for the Virginia Tech product entering the season that did not come to life.
The Pennsylvania native played his first six seasons in the league with the Baltimore Ravens. Clark had a career year in 2021, where he took away two interceptions and 12 passes defended along with 80 combined tackles. The 29-year-old followed that up with a 2022 outing where he notched his fifth career forced fumble and posted a career-high 101 total tackles.
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Clark will join a standout Jets secondary from 2023
It’s this type of activity that had the Jets enthralled with the idea of him roaming in their secondary as a rock-solid strong safety ahead of last season. They’ll now see if Clark gives them a return on investment in 2024 at the strong safety slot, with Tony Adams having free safety locked down.
Behind Clark will be Ashtyn Davis and 2024 seventh-round pick Jaylen Key. Davis excelled last season in New York with three INTs, eight passes defended and a whopping three fumbles recovered. He’ll be just the type of talent to foster healthy competition with Clark and keep his fire burning throughout the year to be his best.
The Jets boasted an elite secondary in 2023. They brought down the third-most interceptions (17) and were instrumental in the seven wins that New York allocated on the campaign. Clark will be a vital component of that defensive equation. He is dead set on proving that there’s more for him to show than has been put on display in his NFL tenure thus far.