Damone Clark reveals advice for DeMarvion Overshown in return from injury

As DeMarvion Overshown attempts a re-do of his rookie season following an ACL tear last year, Dallas Cowboys linebacker Damone Clark is in prime position to put him on the best path. Clark suffered a neck injury that required surgery and nearly wiped out his entire rookie season in 2022, but he came roaring back. Last week, the former fifth-rounder out of LSU revealed the advice he shared with Overshown as he prepares to rejoin the team at training camp next month.

“I just told him to have faith,” Clark said, via DallasCowboys.com. “D-Mo comes in everyday — ready. He’s itching to get out there. I was telling him it was the same thing for me. I looked at last year as my rookie year, just getting thrown in the fire my first year and having a full season under me last year.”

“I told him God won’t give you [any] more than you can handle or bear,” he added. “Obviously, he’s gonna think about his knee, but I tell him to try and not think about it, or it’ll slow him down. It was a learning experience for me. Thinking about my neck slowed me down.”

Clark led the SEC and finished second in the country with 135 tackles in his senior season at LSU. However, he realized the following March that he would need spinal fusion surgery to repair a herniated disk. The injury caused him to fall on draft boards, but it also allowed the Cowboys to get a steal in the fifth round.

Clark had 47 tackles in 10 games played after making his return in October during his rookie year. He then bumped that up to 109 with 7.5 tackles for loss in his second season.

Cowboys have high expectations for Overshown

Dallas drafted Overshown in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft and he appeared headed for significant play as a rookie before he suffered his ACL tear. Before his injury, the former Texas star was “climbing,” according to head coach Mike McCarthy.

“He was climbing. He was climbing the charts,” McCarthy said. “… Showed up right away in the offseason program, just his ability to fly around. Really has excellent command.”

In the Cowboys’ preseason opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Overshown led the team huddle after warmups and recorded six combined tackles by halftime. It was just a flash of what the former Longhorn brings to the table. Dallas will ramp up the second-year linebacker’s reps throughout training camp in Oxnard with the expectation that he’ll be ready to go when the season starts.