The Green Bay Packers are in the midst of a three-game winning streak. Sitting at 7-8, the Packers have found themselves squarely in the playoff discussion. Winning their last two games will be the top priority. The Commanders lost to the Cleveland Browns today, so the Packers control their own destiny. A big storyline of the off-season was Za’Darius Smith being released by Green Bay, then eventually signing with the Minnesota Vikings. Prior to the Packers’ and Vikings’ week one match-up, Za’Darius Smith did a lot of talking. The Vikings got the best of the Packers in Week one winning 23-7. Today the Packers and Vikings play again, and before kick-off Za’Darius Smith showed he is still salty towards the Packers.
Za’Darius Smith Once Again Proves He Is Salty Towards Green Bay
According to Matt Schneidman, Za’Darius Smith refused to shake hands with Adrian Amos during the coin toss. Za’Darius Smith has essentially claimed that no one cared about him or his injury. He also was upset the Packers released him after he gave everything to the team. Yesterday, even head coach Matt LaFleur responded to the Za’Darius Smith claims. “I respect the crap out of Z as a player” Added: “I think we may have a different perspective on how things transpired, so I’ll just leave it at that.” Matt LaFleur is 100% right, and I dug of proof of this with two different examples.
On two different occasions Packers coaching staff commented on Za’Darius Smith’s potential return or ACTUAL return to the facilities. First one is from Mike Smith, the Packers outside linebackers coach.
Mike Smith said: “He sees everybody having fun and having a good time, and he wants to join it. He’s got to be smart about it. Obviously, can’t wait until he gets back but just got to take his time and make sure when he’s back, he’s back for good.”
The one that really seals the deal was what Matt LaFleur said in early November of 2021:
Matt LaFleur said: “He had a big smile on his face,” LaFleur said. “He seems to be in good spirits, which is always important. It was just good to have him back in the building.”
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3 Comments
Then why did they release him if they liked him so much, money and cap aside.
You can “read between the lines” of what they said both positively and negatively.
Also him not shaking hands isn’t exactly all that disrespectful, it’s a rival game. I’ve seen players not wanting to shake hands that ain’t even in the same conference during coin toss. Like Thanksgiving game between Vikings and Patriots. CJ Ham tried shaking hands with Patriots player who refused so CJ Ham just smiled at him.
Smith was pretty quiet yesterday. 3 tackles, no sacks, no INT’s, no PBU, no QB pressures either as far as what I saw while watching the game. I respect Za’darius, but he has fabricated his own fictional story regarding what happened to him in GB. He got hurt, couldn’t come back, and business decisions were made. It’s as simple as that.
The kinda Flys in the face of the article you’re commenting on.