Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith is back on the field for Matt LaFleur’s team for the first time since September.
On Wednesday, Smith returned to practice – meaning the team designated him for return from injured reserve and opened his 21-day window to practice with the team.
LaFleur confirmed Smith would be back on Wednesday before practice. He needs all the time he can get to both get back into football shape and get up to speed with the defense overall. Smith missed most of training camp and has only played in one game with new defensive coordinator Joe Barry.
“We just want to reacclimate him into practice and see how that goes and see how it all meshes before we solidify our plan. Luckily we hot only have this week but next week to continue to get him up to speed,” LaFleur said Wednesday.
The Packers are going through practices during the off week. As the NFC’s No. 1 seed, the Packers received the conference’s only first-round bye.
Having the extra week could mean getting back another important player to start the playoff run.
Smith, an All-Pro in 2020, played 18 snaps in Week 1 against the New Orlean Saints but was shut down after because of a lingering back injury. He required surgery and didn’t play in the final 16 games of the regular season.
Over his first two seasons in Green Bay, Smith delivered 26.0 sacks and 60 quarterback hits, both team highs. He could give the Packers’ a devastatingly effective pass-rush in the playoffs, especially with Rashan Gary, Preston Smith, Kenny Clark and Dean Lowry playing so well.
The Packers are also expected to have left tackle David Bakhtiari and cornerback Jaire Alexander available for next week.
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