Packers at the Bye: Outside Linebackers

With 12 games down and a fight for the No. 1 seed and the playoffs on the horizon, here’s the key at outside linebacker for the Green Bay Packers.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Over the past three seasons, Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Za’Darius Smith is 10th in the NFL with 26 sacks.

And that’s with Smith not contributing at all this season.

Smith was superb in 2019 and 2020, a driving force behind the team’s run to back-to-back NFC Championship Games. During those two seasons, he was third in the NFL with 26 sacks, second with 60 quarterback hits and 11th with six forced fumbles.

A back injury limited him to one practice in training camp – with no live snaps that day – and just 18 snaps in the opener. Ultimately, Smith had back surgery and hasn’t played since. He remains on injured reserve and, while he posted on Instagram recently that, “It’s about that time,” nobody knows if he’ll be able to play again this season.

The Packers have survived an incredible number of injuries at the position. Randy Ramsey (ankle in training camp) and Chauncey Rivers (knee at practice) suffered season-ending injuries and joined Smith on injured reserve. The bright side is those injuries forced general manager Brian Gutekunst to fortify that group by signing veteran Whitney Mercilus. The down side is Mercilus, who had been impressive in his first few games, suffered a season-ending injury (bicep), too.

Preston Smith, impervious to injuries in his first six seasons, had his 102-game ironman streak snapped against Washington due to an oblique injury. Rashan Gary missed the Minnesota game with a hyperextended elbow. Backup Jonathan Garvin spent last week’s game against Los Angeles on the COVID list.

Against the Rams, Gary and Smith started and Tipa Galeai (promoted from the practice squad) and La’Darius Hamilton (elevated from the practice squad) were the backups.

Through it all, Mike Smith’s group has produced. Gary has shown why he was the 12th pick of the 2019 draft. While his 6.5 sacks and two forced fumbles aren’t overly impressive and probably will leave him out in the cold in terms of postseason accolades, he’s seventh among edge defenders with 50 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. He is explosive, powerful and relentless on every snap.

“You don’t get a lot of rushes sometimes, and you never know when you’re going to get that one,” Mike Smith said of teams generally throwing the ball quickly to limit Green Bay’s rush. “That’s the thing about Rashan, his motor is hot all the time. I couldn’t be more proud of Rashan. Nothing will ever change with that kid. He’ll always be the same, humble, hungry, love football, study, still texting me at 11 o clock at night. I’m lucky to be his coach, for damn sure.”

Coming off a miserable 2020 season, Preston Smith has five sacks and 36 pressures – the latter figure tied for 19th among edge rushers and already nine more than last year despite 159 fewer rushes. He has been worth every penny of the restructured deal that kept him in Green Bay.

“Preston’s been a rock for us all year,” defensive coordinator Joe Barry said.

Green Bay should be back at full-ish strength after the bye. Gary returned to the lineup against the Rams and should be a week healthier after the bye, and Garvin was activated from the COVID list on Saturday.

Will Za’Darius Smith be back for the stretch run, as he perhaps hinted? The Packers have been very cautiously optimistic. If he could return as even a situational pass rusher, a defense that ranks fifth in the NFL could be even stronger for the playoffs.

And if not, Gary and Preston Smith are ready, willing and able to carry the load, whether it’s run or pass. The question is whether they’d be enough to beat a team like Tampa Bay in a playoff rematch? The Buccaneers’ offensive tackles, Donovan Smith and Tristan Wirfs, held Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith and Gary to a combined two pressures in last year’s title game. It was overwhelming dominance that can’t happen again.

“Throughout the league, you know you’re going to be faced with challenges and ups and downs,” Preston Smith said of the injuries. “I think it’s going to show a reflection of our room how guys come together, work hard. We don’t care about the circumstance, we’ve just got to deal with what we can control, focus on what we can control, go out there and work hard.”

Packers at the Bye Series

Quarterbacks

Running backs

Tight ends

Receivers

Offensive line

Defensive line

Five keys to winning the Super Bowl

For years and years (and years and years), the #Packers have been a horrendous short-yardage team on offense.

How about this year? That's one of 10 sensational bye-week stats.https://t.co/Y0ZqlCMn8e

— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) December 5, 2021