His first two seasons have been somewhat like a roller coaster for cornerback Kei’Trel Clark.
A sixth-round pick in 2023, he opened the season as a starter and did that for five of the first six games. However, he started only two more games for the remainder of the season.
This year, he’s played mostly on special teams and was inactive for two games. In the 10 games Clark has played, he was on the field for a total of 45 defensive snaps with 21 in Week 5 against the 49ers when Garrett Williams was inactive. There have also been 79 snaps on special teams.
In practice, there has been a lot of scout-team work and that resulted in him being that group’s Pat Tillman Player of the Week for what he did in preparation for last week’s game against the Vikings. That meant he’s wearing the special Tillman No. 40 jersey in practice this week.
Clark said he told Williams he hadn’t been thinking about winning the award, but then said, “It’s definitely a blessing to have it and now that I have it, I don’t want to get rid of it.
“Now my goal is to get it again for this week. I just want to keep on stacking the days and it’s good to see that my hard work is being noticed.”
Clark said he didn’t know much about Tillman’s legacy before he arrived in Arizona last year. However, he noted, “Since I’ve been here, I’ve been literally plastered with the type of person that he was and what he meant to this club and how influential he was in the NFL as well just as a person. I feel like it’s an honor to be able to get that award.”
The self-aware Clark believes the award isn’t only about practice.
He said, “It’s how you are in the building. How you treat people, just how you are every single day when you approach the job and touch the green grass. It’s about keeping on task and just a matter of being consistent, being disciplined and being the best teammate and person I can be.”
Those are words that surely defined Pat Tillman.
2024 Pat Tillman Scout-Team Award Winners
Week 1: RB Michael Carter (practice squad)
Week 2: LB Markus Bailey (practice squad)
Week 3: WR Andre Baccellia (practice squad)
Week 4: OL Jon Gaines II
Week 5: WR Xavier Weaver
Week 6: DL P.J. Mustipher (practice squad)
Week 7: S Joey Blount
Week 8: WR Chris Moore (practice squad)
Week 9: OLB Ronnie Perkins (practice squad)
Week 10: QB Clayton Tune
Week 12: LB Milo Eifler (practice squad)
Week 13: CB Kei’Trel Clark
