Za'Darius Smith has put together back-to-back monster years for the Green Bay Packers since joining the team.
He's registered double-digit sack totals in both years and has been one of the main focal points of Green Bay's defense.
With Week 1 approaching, Smith has been dealing with a back issue that initially help him out of practice completely but more recently, had him back but limited. Packers head coach Matt LaFleur sounded optimistic about Smith's chances to play on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.
“He’s taking the steps in the right direction to hopefully suit up on Sunday.”
This is an upgrade from when LaFleur had recently said they would see how things looked with Smith as the week carried on. Now it sounds as though the Packers will likely have their leading sack-getter from 2020 in some capacity on Sunday.
LaFleur did note they won't risk the long term for the short gain, which is the exact strategy they took with all-pro left tackle David Bakhtiari.
Bakhtiari suffered a torn ACL last December and will start this season on the physically unable to perform list; meaning he will sit out at least six weeks.
With Aaron Rodgers back under center, the Packers have Super Bowl dreams this season after getting to back-to-back NFC Championship games.
For the Packers to obtain the Lombardi Trophy, they will need Za'Darius Smith at full strength along with Bakhtiari.
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