GREEN BAY, Wis. (WSAW) -The Packers will place Za’Darius Smith, their most productive edge rusher, on injured reserve with a nagging back injury. Head coach Matt LaFleur announced the imminent move at his pre-practice press conference. The move means Smith will miss at least three weeks and is eligible to return any time after that.
The Packers sack leader the last two seasons has been dealing with the injury since at least the start of training camp, and only logged one full practice the entire summer. He practiced twice in the week leading up to the opener against the Saints, but played just 18 snaps and was a relative non-factor.