Andy Dalton was back at practice Thursday after a nasty bout with the flu that sidelined him the previous day.
Understandably, the emotions are still raw for Clark. In a cruel twist of scheduling fate, he barely received a month's worth of time to process the significant change before being asked to suit up against his former teammates with plenty on the line.
As for those former teammates, don't expect Clark to go out of his way to say hello. There are pads to crack and ball-carriers to take down, and Clark can't afford to lighten up for even a second.
"When it's game-time, I'm in the game," he said. "If those guys want to come up, I ain't seeking it out. It's all love and they know it's all love. After the game or before the game, we can do that, but I ain't seeking out for nothing. I'm trying to win the game. ... I'm here to win. I'm gonna play my ass off and do everything I can for us to get a win."
The build-up to the game will properly revolve around Parsons and the television cameras will stalk him from the moment he steps off the visiting team's bus and walks into the bowels of AT&T Stadium. In the other locker room, the other player affected by Parsons' trade will be gearing up for his own pursuit of revenge.
"I've watched the film and I know what's going on. Obviously I would've liked to have practiced yesterday, but it didn't happen. I'll go out there today."
Coach Marvin Lewis, preparing his Bengals for Saturday's wild-card game against the Houston Texans, declined to say how much the rookie was able to do in practice. He thought Dalton was up to date on the offensive plan.
"He's fine," Lewis said. "He'll go through the video. He's already been through it (from Wednesday). It's not a big deal."
The quarterback was taken to the hospital Wednesday night with flu-like symptoms after missing practice, Lewis said Thursday morning on Sirius XM radio.
The second-round draft pick has never lost at Houston's Reliant Stadium. He grew up in the Houston suburbs and played two games at the stadium in high school and another for TCU.
Dalton also likes facing a defense that he saw only a month ago instead of playing a team for the first time.
"Anytime you get to play a team twice, you have a feel for what they do and how they play," Dalton said. "So, it's nice going into the first playoff game against a team we've played before."
The Associated Press contributed to this report