House likens rookie WR Clark to Buccaneers’ Evans
GREEN BAY – Davon House has practiced against Michael Clark and watched tape preparing to play against Mike Evans. After doing both, the Green Bay Packers veteran cornerback had a message for Clark, the practicesquad receiver.
“I see a lot of Mike Evans in him,” House said Thursday in comparing Clark to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ star receiver. “I actually told him earlier today that you might get some cut-ups of him and put it on his tape, because if he can play anything like Mike, he’s going to be really darn good in this league.”
As players, Evans and Clark exist on opposite ends of the NFL spectrum.
Evans was drafted seventh overall in 2014. Since then, he has exceeded 1,000 yards in each of his three seasons, with a Pro Bowl and second-team all-pro selection last season. At 6 foot 5 and 231 pounds, Evans is among the NFL’s most physically imposing receivers, making him one of the league’s toughest matchups.
Clark, a converted basketball player, was undrafted this spring after one season of college football at Marshall. Since then, he has toiled in obscurity on the Packers’ practice squad. At 6-6, 217 pounds with impressive leaping ability, Clark has the potential to become an imposing match-up similar to Evans, in House’s view.
“They’re both really hard to guard,” House said. “Clark is going to be phenomenal, I’m telling you now.”
House wasn’t taking a swipe at Evans. “The guy is really good,” he said. But he believes Clark has “the same talent level” as Evans.
The difference, of course, is Evans has much more polish. A talented player does not necessarily become a good player, and Clark has a mountain to climb before he can ascend to Evans’ level.
When Clark arrived in Green Bay, his rawness was obvious. But, House said, he has seen improvement from the rookie, enough for him to believe Clark can be a good player in the future.
“I think just fine-tuning their tools,” House said. “... Like Clark, when he came in here, he couldn’t get off the jam just because he’s so lanky. But he found a way to learn how to release a lot better, started running a lot better routes. Usually, tall guys, all they can do is go deep — but not Clark. He can get in and out of his breaks. So things like that.”
Special coverage: The Packers rank eighth in the NFL in opponent punt-return average despite allowing two returns of 20 or more yards.
They have held some of the NFL’s best returners in check. That includes limiting Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown, New Orleans’ Ted Ginn, Detroit’s Jamal Agnew, Minnesota’s Marcus Sherels and Seattle’s Tyler Lockett to a combined seven returns for 30 yards (4.3 average).
Against the Steelers, gunner Trevor Davis (who also serves as the Packers’ punt returner) nearly made the play of the game when he attempted to rip the ball out of Brown’s arm just before Pittsburgh’s game-winning drive.
“I thought I was going to get it,” Davis said. “It was real close. Watching film on it, his knee wasn’t down. I almost got it out.”
Davis didn’t start the season as a gunner, but his speed is ideal for it and through work with special teams coach Ron Zook, he has learned how to deal with all the blocking combinations teams present.
Most opponents try to smother Jeff Janis, the other gunner, because of his outstanding ability, but Davis is trying to be a threat as well.
“What really helps is the technique they teach here,” Davis said. “It’s really gotten me out of a lot of jams. One of the punts, I basically got a triple team, so you have to know how to get past that.”
Missed snaps: House missed the last four snaps against the Steelers because he started getting dehydrated and needed to get an IV in the locker room.
Hoping he could come back if the game went to overtime, House was out when quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completed two passes to Brown to set up the winning touchdown. Neither pass was to the side where Josh Hawkins had taken over for House.
Injury update: Cornerback Damarious Randall was added to the injury report Thursday with a knee injury, though it did not completely keep him out of practice.
Randall was limited in the practice, as were outside linebacker Clay Matthews (groin) and defensive tackle Kenny Clark (ankle).
Rookie cornerback Kevin King (shoulder) and running back Ty Montgomery (ribs) did not practice for the second straight day.
New addition: The Packers filled their practice squad to capacity, signing cornerback Raysean Pringle.
Pringle, a rookie out of Southern Utah, spent the off-season and preseason on the Packers’ 90-man roster. After being released at the end of camp, he signed onto the Jacksonville Jaguars’ practice squad. The Jaguars released Pringle in mid-October.
It was the second straight day the Packers added to their practice squad, which had only eight players at the beginning of the week. The Packers signed rookie linebacker Ahmad Thomas on Wednesday. With Pringle, their practice squad is at the maximum 10 players allowed.