Los Angeles prosecutors on Friday charged Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Frank Clark with one felony weapons violation stemming from his arrest on March 13 by the California Highway Patrol, according to a report in The Kansas City Star.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office told The Star on Friday that it had charged the 28-year-old Clark with one felony count of possession of an assault weapon. Clark was arrested in March, along with another man, when officers said they found two loaded firearms in their vehicle after a traffic stop, the paper reported, citing California Highway Patrol records.
Clark was also arrested last month in Los Angeles in a separate incident in which police officers allegedly saw a submachine gun in his car, but that remains under investigation. Clark’s attorney, Alex Spiro, said at the time of his arrest on suspicion of having a concealed firearm in a vehicle that the gun belonged to Clark’s bodyguard.
According to The Star, Clark is scheduled to be arraigned for the charge stemming from the March arrest on July 14.
If convicted, Clark could face up to three years in prison.
A native of Los Angeles, Clark played his first four NFL seasons with the Seattle Seahawks before being traded to Kansas City in 2019. He was part of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl-winning team in the 2019 season and has 49 sacks in 91 career games plus eight sacks in two postseasons with Kansas City. He has twice been named to the Pro Bowl since joining the Chiefs.
Clark was previously arrested in 2014 on suspicion of domestic violence over an incident at an Ohio hotel, leading to his removal from the University of Michigan team. He eventually pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct.
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive line was always going to have a tough learning curve in the 2021 season.
Once a stalwart unit in the NFL, it was left in flux by the departures of left tackle Alejandro Villanueva, center Maurkice Pouncey and left guard Matt Feiler. The Steelers have just two returning starters — including one in Chuks Okorafor, who will get the first crack at moving across the line for the left tackle job.
But that learning curve instantly got even more challenging with right guard David DeCastro’s release last week.
Even if the personnel isn’t the same, the unit could still take a step forward from last year’s 51% pass block win rate, which ranked 28th in the NFL and last among the 14 playoff teams, thanks to the philosophy and techniques of new offensive line coach Adrian Klemm and leadership from young players like Zach Banner.
Klemm, who was promoted after serving as assistant OL coach for two seasons, stressed the need to add players with a physical, aggressive mentality during the draft, and Pittsburgh selected center Kendrick Green and offensive tackle Dan Moore Jr. in the third and fourth rounds, respectively.
“Some people just naturally have that — as a coach you can be demanding of it, but in critical moments of a game when man measures man, whoever you truly are is going to come out,” Klemm said after the Steelers picked Green. “If you have that dog in you, that wolf in you, you are going to continue to do that in critical moments of the game. I love it when I find a guy that I don’t have to bring that out of.”
And Klemm isn’t just relying on the players to self-start their aggression. He’s infusing it in team meetings and drills.
“I feel like there’s a little more intensity with [Klemm],” second-year guard Kevin Dotson said during OTAs. “… It’s more aggressive, more aggression. Even the way we come off the blocks. There is no more getting behind people and blocking. It is more going down the middle of them. Even the verbiage he uses in meetings is more aggressive. It’s not just ‘get to the block.’ It’s like ‘run through his face’ or other stuff that I really can’t say. He’s using more aggressive terms, and I feel like that pushes our mindset in that way.”
Players like Banner, who spent the bulk of last season learning from Klemm during his ACL rehab, can already see a difference.
“We call that necessary violence,” Banner said of Klemm’s coaching technique. “… There’s that type of thug mentality that we have when we put our helmets on. It’s still professional, still structured, but when I look at my guys going out in the tunnel, I’m looking at them and saying, ‘Let’s F’ing go.’ We have that now as a coach.
Protecting Ben Roethlisberger was a challenge in 2020 as the Steelers’ 51% pass block win rate ranked 28th in the NFL and last among playoff teams. Shelley Lipton/Icon Sportswire
“… That killer instinct doesn’t come naturally for some guys. Sometimes it has to be coached. So when you have that technician and he’s giving the overall job, he’s rewriting our bible that we live by, the technique, the fundamentals, things that we’re coming out and doing. That’s something he does. … Some people might cower from that type of pressure and coaching, but our room is full of guys who love that and work well with that.”
Klemm, who presents as a soft-spoken guy, transforms when he instructs his unit, channeling energy and passion he learned as an offensive lineman with the
The nominations for the 2021 ESPYS are full of NFL players. Cast your votes today.
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — After topping all running backs last season in yards per attempt, J.K. Dobbins has taken over the lead role for the NFL’s top rushing attack.
Any concerns about a sophomore slump? Not after this sophomore slight.
During the Baltimore Ravens’ recent minicamp, it took Dobbins until only the second question to bring up how Pro Football Focus ranked him 26th among all NFL running backs.
“You know that chip on my shoulder is pretty big,” Dobbins said. “Just a little fuel, like PFF ranking me 26th … I don’t think I’m 26th, but I love that. That gives me room to improve. I’ve got people to prove wrong.”
Getting snubbed is not something new for Dobbins. Considered by some experts as the No. 1 running back in the 2020 draft, Dobbins fell toward the bottom of the second round and watched four running backs get selected before him.
Motivated by the slide in the draft, Dobbins finished as the second-leading rookie rusher last season, gaining 805 yards and scoring nine touchdowns. He also averaged nearly six yards per carry, at least one yard more than Jonathan Taylor (5.0), D’Andre Swift (4.6), Clyde Edwards-Helaire (4.4) and Cam Akers (4.3) — all the backs drafted before Dobbins.
The nominations for the 2021 ESPYS are full of NFL players. Cast your votes today.
The Ravens haven’t had a young, all-around running back since Ray Rice seven years ago. Since that time, Baltimore has relied on stop-gap backs like Justin Forsett, Terrance West, Alex Collins and Mark Ingram II.
In order to have long-term success and prove the critics wrong, Dobbins said he understands it takes more than maintaining physical strength.
“I think a lot of people overlook mental strength,” Dobbins said. “The NFL season is a long season, especially for a rookie. It’s different than college; you play a lot of games. And mentally, you have to be ready. You have to be on point with your mental, because if you’re not, then your body, none of that’s going to work. I feel like I’ve been learning this offseason to have my mental ready, body ready, all of that. I feel like I’m locked and loaded.”
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Titans were tied last season for the second-most-potent offense in the league, but Sunday’s trade with the Atlanta Falcons for wide receiver Julio Jones has the potential to take them to a different plane.
Jones, whom the Titans acquired for a 2022 second-round pick and 2023 fourth-round selection, brings career totals of 848 receptions for 12,896 yards and 60 touchdowns to the Titans after a decade in the league.
