When the Arizona Cardinals released their inactive list on Sunday for their game against the Baltimore Ravens, there was a notable player — rookie cornerback Kei’Trel Clark. He was a healthy scratch and didn’t even get to suit up.
It was the second week in a row he did not play. In Seattle, he was active but did not log a single snap.
While it would appear he is in head coach Jonathan Gannon’s doghouse, comments made by the head coach suggest that it is, at worst, a temporary situation.
“I like the other guys, what they’re doing right now,” Gannon said after the game on Sunday. “They all had a good week of practice, and he’ll be back in the mix. There’s only so many guys that get a jersey on gameday, you have to have a role to be up like the other guys this week.”
Clark won the starting job opposite Marco Wilson coming out of the preseason.
After playing almost every defensive snap for the first four games, he saw his playing time decrease until last week he suited up but did not play at all and yesterday he was not even active.
Gannon has praised Clark’s mentality and ability to bounce back from adversity. We will see over the next few weeks if he can climb his way back into the defensive rotation.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.