Things have not really been going the Green Bay Packers’ way this year. Things have not really been going the Baltimore Ravens’ way this year, either. After yesterday’s games, in fact, both teams find themselves three games back in their own division with only six games left to play.
The two injury-riddled teams met up yesterday, with the Packers entering 5-4 and the Ravens entering 4-5. They both exited the game 5-5, but Green Bay came out far more the worse for wear, having dealt some injuries, most notably to Clay Matthews at linebacker.
But the injury that really got the Packers riled up was one suffered by Kenny Clark, their first-round pick from a year ago at nose tackle. About five minutes into the fourth quarter, the second-year player went down with a knee injury while engaged with Raven center Ryan Jensen.
While the play was about the only one of the entire week around the NFL for which there was no replay, evidently, and I won’t be able to tell more closely exactly what happened on the play until the coaches tape comes out, suffice it to say that the Packers weren’t too happy about Jensen after the play—and they also went into the game with certain expectations about him.
The fourth-year interior lineman is in his first season as a full-time starter, and at least according to Pro Football Focus, he has played surprisingly well. But he also “doesn’t play fair”, says Packers safety HaHa Clinton-Dix.
“Number 66, I don’t even know his name, but he’s trash”, he said of Jensen after the game. “He’s a bad player. He doesn’t play fair. This is a game that we all love to play and love to enjoy, and you never want to see a guy get hurt when you’re playing overaggressive and doing things that you shouldn’t be doing. It’s uncalled for”.
The Ravens were actually especially battered for this game. Even Ronnie Stanley, their lone remaining starter from last season, missed the game, prompting James Hurst to move from left guard to left tackle, and Luke Bowanko started in his place. Next to Jensen were Matt Skura filling in for Marshal Yanda and Austin Howard as the free-agent replacement for Rick Wagner.
Clinton-Dix wasn’t done with those comments, however, adding of Jensen, “I don’t like him”. He accused the Ravens lineman of playing dirty. “He needs to tighten up on his play. Play ball. If you can’t whup him regularly, don’t cheap shot him. That’s what that guy’s been doing all year. I’ve been watching film of 66, and he’s a dirty player”.
While he admitted that he would like to have him on his team, he added, “you can’t play like that and want to be great in this league. It’s uncalled for”. The safety was the only Packer who commented extensively on the injury, but another defender confirmed that many were upset with it. The team didn’t have an update on Clark’s status after the game.
