GREEN BAY, Wis. – When the Packers sent Za’Darius Smith to injured reserve two weeks ago, the goal was to finally get him past the back injury that had bothered him since before the start of training camp.
“Why not try to get him as healthy as possible so we can have him more readily available,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Sept. 17.
After a slight pause, he continued, “Hopefully.”
So much for hopefully.
As reported by Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Smith had back surgery this week.