Brett's Cowboys Corner

Compete Every Day.

That has been the motto of the Schottenheimer era in Dallas. In every aspect of the game, whether its against your opponent, your teammate, or yourself.

In the NFL, some guys are constantly competing for their jobs and being aware of that is important. Alijah Clark went undrafted in the 2025 class, and he understands that being a undrafted rookie puts him at “the bottom of the bottom.”

This is more of the reason to come out and compete every day, earn snaps and earn a true role on Sunday. Due to injuries in front of him, Clark ended up starting at safety against the Broncos, and since the return of Donovan Wilson and Malik Hooker, his role has shifted more to special teams.

This limits his snaps and opportunities, but that didn’t limit Clark from making his impact felt.

Getting knocked down happens in football, but the choice is whether you get back up. Clark expressed the importance of getting back up, “just keep trying. The worst thing you can do is stop trying. You can either get made a clown or you could have a viral moment.”

The relentless effort showed on that play, and after each hit Clark thought to himself, “I’m about to get back up.”

After the game he told the media, “I know everybody is watching back at home, too, and it’s the Eagles, so I ain’t about to let nobody from Philly put their hands on me like that.”

The level of competition and fight trickles down from top to bottom, Clark credits his teammates on how they attack the day, Donovan Wilson and Malik Hooker come into each day like its their last.

Clark said he went back to watch the clip a few times but on a short week, its time to move forward, “usually you get 48 hours but this week we just had last night so we right back at it.”