After a disaster of a game to open their regular season, the Green Bay Packers will look to bounce back in Week 2 against the Detroit Lions.
They'll have to do so without their star edge rusher Za'Darius Smith not only for the Lions game, but for a few weeks after that too.
#Packers coach Matt LaFleur says the team is shutting edge rusher Za'Darius Smith down "for awhile" because of his back injury. He'll go on injured reserve with the possibly to return. pic.twitter.com/PSAnP5tvTU
— Jason Wilde (@jasonjwilde) September 17, 2021
Smith has been dealing with a back injury for most of the offseason but gave it a go for the Packers against New Orleans. He wasn't disrupting the opposing quarterback like usual but in fairness, nobody for Green Bay looked all that great.
After back-to-back double-digit sack seasons with the Packers, it's clearly a huge loss for Green Bay. The one good thing going for them with losing Smith is that they have really good options in Preston Smith and Rashan Gary who will try to carry the torch in the absence of Za'Darius.
While the Packers are opting to put Smith on IR, it isn't season-ending IR so he will hopefully be able to return in a few weeks. Despite the lopsided game against New Orleans, the goals are still to win the Super Bowl for Green Bay this year. If that's the case, they'd be better off doing what they are with Smith which is letting his back rest and heal for the stretch run of the regular season and then the postseason.
It's a big loss for the Packers but, fingers crossed that Za'Darius Smith comes back even better for Green Bay.
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