New Lions LB Damone Clark knows knows playing time isn't guaranteed
The Detroit Lions got the better of the Dallas Cowboys on a 2-point play that was overturned on a controversial penalty late in the 2023 season, but linebacker Damone Clark was ready for his new team’s trick-play shenanigans the second time around.
Clark, who signed a one-year deal with the Lions on Wednesday, March 18, broke up a tackle-eligible pass from Jared Goff to Taylor Decker in the end zone in the third quarter of the Lions’ 47-9 blowout of the Cowboys in 2024.
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Clark recalled his role in that play and the wild 2023 sequence in a conference call with Detroit reporters Wednesday.
He said defensive players “need to be prepared” against the Lions “cause those guys are going to be physical and they’re going to outsmart you,” and he promised not to let his guard down on those types of plays now that he’s in Detroit.
“You got to know it’s a copycat league so everybody’s going to do it,” Clark said. “You just got to be prepared for it and have your antennas up.”
The Cowboys beat the Lions, 20-19, in a primetime showdown in 2023 when the Lions scored a late touchdown but had the go-ahead two-point conversion overturned on an illegal touching penalty.
Officials wrongly announced swing tackle Dan Skipper as reporting eligible on the play , when Goff threw complete to Decker for what appeared to be the go-ahead points.
Clark said he remembers Skipper and Penei Sewell approaching referee Brad Allen before the snap.
“I don’t remember what was being said or anything, but I know obviously if they’re walking up, they’re telling him, ‘Hey, I’m eligible,’” Clark said. “I’m not going to sit here and act like I know what was said but all I know at the time, I’m in Dallas, we got the victory.”
The Lions got revenge 10 months later in the 2024 rematch, when they unleashed a barrage of trick plays – including a lateral to Sewell – in a blowout win.
On his pass breakup, on a first-and-goal play from the 2, Clark initially bit on a run-action fake but recovered in time to knock Goff’s pass to Decker to the ground. The Cowboys held the Lions to a field goal on that series.
A fourth-round pick out of LSU in 2022, Clark had his most productive season as a pro with the Cowboys in 2023, when he had a team-high 109 tackles and one fumble recovery.
He has played more snaps on special teams than defense the past two seasons – the Cowboys waived Clark last November, and he finished the 2025 season with the Houston Texans – but could have the chance to jumpstart his career while playing for a familiar face in Detroit.
Clark worked closely with Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard when Sheppard was LSU’s director of player development in 2020, and the two have stayed in touch since.
The Lions return Jack Campbell and Derrick Barnes at linebacker but have one starting spot open after Alex Anzalone left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency. Malcolm Rodriguez and Trevor Nowaske are the only other linebackers currently on the roster.
“I’m blessed just to be in this position to be able to come here and get coached by Shep, cause I know how he is outside of ball and it ain’t no different,” Clark said. “He’s going to always shoot it straight to you. Like I mentioned, it don’t matter just cause I’ve been knowing Shep. I talked to him today, at the end of the day, I need to do what I got to do. There’s no homeboys in this business. You need to come in here, put your head down and go to work and the best man’ll win.”
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on Bluesky , X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Damone Clark pals with Kelvin Sheppard: 'No homeboys in this business'
