The Packers have placed edge rusher Za’Darius Smith on injured reserve, according to head coach Matt LaFleur (Twitter link via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com). The Packers initially hoped to have him ready for Week 2, but his back hasn’t healed as quickly as expected.
“We’re going to have to shut him down for a while,” LaFleur said. “[It’s a matter of,] do you keep him in a limited or do you shut him down for a while and try to get him up to the snap count we’d like him to be.”
Smith came off Green Bay’s active/NFI list August 9 but suffered setbacks shortly after. The Packers plan to exercise caution here, shelving Smith for at least another three games.
Smith, 28, also took issue with how the Packers restructured his contract earlier year. However, club officials have made it clear that Smith’s absence is strictly injury-related.
In theory, the two-time reigning NFC North champs are well equipped to handle Smith’s absence, given the presence of Preston Smith and former first-round pick Rashan Gary. Still, they didn’t look great in any facet last week as the Packers were crushed 38-3 by the Saints.
Plain and simple: Za’darius Smith is a greedy, self serving, pathetic excuse for a human being. All this injury BS just go cash in AGAIN after pulling in 50+ million dollars, including $15 mil for your FAKE injury that will probably keep you out all season. Why would any team sign him now? He’s “apparently” got such debilitating injuries that he can’t take the field. Debilitating injuries that I guarantee would miraculously go away almost immediately if he were to sign an extension. Real class act…screw over your fans and teammates because your stupid self can’t make $50-$60 last a lifetime and your greed tells you “I NEED MORE”. You disgust me. Teams need to look into character of these players MUCH HARDER before signing them as free agents, and they also need to develop clauses in contracts that prevent holdouts in the last season “if you don’t give me an extension”. It’s gonna be hard to prove he’s faking a back injury, but you can bet your last dollar that I’d have private investigators following every move that clown made and let the courts decide it. You’re a pathetic man, Za’Darius