Za’Darius Smith Has Bitter Quote About Packers

If you thought the Packers-Vikings rivalry was intense before, this off-season just added a new layer. Former Packers’ EDGE rusher Za’Darius Smith signed a 3 year, 42 million dollar deal with Minnesota back in March. His way of announcing it? Quoting the legendary Purple People Eater defense of the 1960s and 1970s: “Meet At The Quarterback.” There have been a few banters back and forth between Smith and social media regarding week one vs the Packers. Back in July he posted a cryptic tweet also suggesting how excited he is to play Green Bay week one. Now, just one week prior to the Packers-Vikings match-up Za’Darius Smith is speaking out once again.

Za’Darius Smith: “They Released Me”

Za’Darius Smith was asked how he feels going into the week one match-up vs the Packers after the long labor day weekend. Here was his response:

“Very excited, man,” he said. “I can’t wait. I’ve been preparing for this time to come for a while now, so it’s finally come, and now I’m ready… They did release me, and I came to the other side. But you know at the end of the day, it’s a game and we all get to play and do something that we love, and I just can’t wait to go against my old team.’’

Za’Darius DID ins’t that it “wasn’t a revenge game,” but I am not sure how much I believe that. Smith had 26 sacks in two years (2019-2020) with the Packers. He then missed all but two games of the 2021 season with Green Bay due to a “back injury” that we still have questions about. Z’s downfall with Green Bay reportedly started when he wasn’t voted a captain in 2021. Either way it wasn’t the prettiest of break-ups between the Vikings and Packers.

Who will Za’Darius Smith Line Up Against?

With the news of David Bakhtiari likely returning for week one, it is safe to say Za’Darius may get to line-up against D-Bak. However I would expect him and Danielle Hunter to rotate around the defensive line. It would also seem likely that Yosh Nijman would like up at Right Tackle, opposite of David Bakhtiari. That is if Elgton Jenkins can’t go for week one. Yosh Nijman played his entire senior season at RT in college, and even some in the pros. He has a plethora of experience and stepped in nicely at LT last year when Bakhtiari was out. This is going to be an extremely fun match-up to watch on Sunday and Za’Darius Smith just keeps adding to it.

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