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Following the Kansas City Chiefs’ 23-16 win over the New England Patriots, defensive end Frank Clark told reporters he didn’t feel... well.
“Right now I feel like s—,” he said, “but it’s nothing that can replace a win.”
The media found out exactly why shortly after the game, when NFL Network’s Peter Schrager revealed that Clark had lost 12 pounds after visiting the hospital.
The stories coming out of KC locker room re Frank Clark sound made up. They’re not.
— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) December 9, 2019
Terrible stomach virus.
Lost twelve pounds since Monday.
Was in hospital.
His “Flu Game” and was biggest win of @Chiefs season. @ArrowheadPride
On Wednesday, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid explained the saga wasn’t over — Clark’s illness reoccurred after subsiding.
“Frank Clark is going to see a specialist,” said Reid, likely speaking about a gastroenterologist. “His stomach is still bothering him, and I feel bad for him. You just got to get it answered, so we’re looking into that.”
Clark played under 50% of the team’s defensive snaps in the game, but he was still effective, recording four tackles (three solo), two tackles for a loss and a sack.
“He was safe to play,” said Reid. “It was just kind of working through this thing, and for a bit it subsided, just a bit. And he powered through it. It’s not a matter of getting him to play. We tried to actually ration the number of plays that he played, and he wanted to like fight somebody, you know what I mean?
“He wanted to be in there. So that’s how he’s wired, and we appreciate that. Let’s go find what the problem is now. We’ve taken it to Dr. Monaco, another doc, and then we’ll go see a specialist in that area, see exactly where we’re at.”
In 11 games this season, Clark has 32 tackles (23 solo), 10 tackles for loss, 6.0 sacks, nine quarterback hits, three forced fumbles, three passes defensed and an interception. Clark more than likely won’t practice Wednesday and the Chiefs should have more information as the week carries on.