Getty Defensive lineman Tyler Clark played his college ball with the Georgia Bulldogs
The Chicago Bears have added more depth for their defensive line. The team announced Wednesday that they have signed former Georgia defensive lineman Tyler Clark to their 16-player practice squad. Chicago had him in for a workout last week, and they must have liked what they saw from the 6’4 300 pound defensive tackle.
Clark spent four seasons playing for the Georgia Bulldogs — a team current Bears GM Ryan Pace has favored in the draft. He played in 47 games for the Bulldogs, racking up 119 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks and a fumble recovery. He had a standout season his senior year, where he had 2.5 sacks and a career-high eight tackles for loss in 11 the games he played in, but he went undrafted in the draft this year.
He was signed briefly by the Bengals after the draft, but released before the season started.
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Tyler Clark: ‘Physical, tough-minded,’ With ‘Violent Hands’
While Clark doesn’t have any experience at the NFL level yet, he played all four years at Georgia, playing in 13 games his freshman year and starting every year after that. UGA Sports wrote the following about him heading into his junior year with the Bulldogs:
“Don’t let Clark fool you. Off the field, he’s quiet, almost to the point of being shy, but on the field, watch out. Clark is so competitive that [Georgia coach Kirby] Smart mentioned he even reminds him of himself as a player. He hates to lose, and that’s served as one of his biggest motivators. Physical and tough-minded, you saw more double-teams on Clark as last season went along, but even then, opposing offensive linemen didn’t have a ton of success. Pad level, violent hands and leg drive are all areas that Clark excels in.”
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Clark Makes an Intriguing PS Addition for Bears…
“He has intense passion and intense competitiveness and it bothers him when he does not do well. I think that’s a good trait for a defensive lineman,” his former head coach Kirby Smart said about him.
“He used to cry because he actually couldn’t put on the pads and tackle the other kids,” Clark’s mother, Angela Clark, said after he committed to Georgia. “Well, he couldn’t put on pads and wasn’t supposed to tackle, but Tyler did it anyway. The other parents used to complain and he would just cry and say ‘I just want to hit! I don’t want to pull the flag!’ So he would have the flag in one hand and have the other guy on the ground.”
He sounds like he’ll be a perfect fit in the city of Chicago.
Here’s a list of the current players on Chicago’s practice squad:
- WR – Rodney Adams
- WR – Reggie Davis
- WR – Thomas Ives
- OL – Eric Kush
- OL – Dieter Eiselen
- OL – Badara Traore
- TE – Jesper Horsted
- RB – Lamar Miller
- QB – Kyle Sloter
- QB – Tyler Bray
- DB – Marqui Christian
- DB – Xavier Crawford
- DL – Tyler Clark
- DL – LaCale London
- LB – Ledarius Mack
- LB – Manti Te’o
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Bears Sign Free Agent Pass Rusher With ‘Violent Hands’