Za’Darius Smith Wins Defensive Player of Week

Smith had team highs of three sacks, four tackles for losses, five quarterback hits, seven quarterback pressures and eight tackles against Atlanta.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers captain Za’Darius Smith was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his dominant performance against the Atlanta Falcons on Monday.

By the official stats, Smith had three sacks, four tackles for losses, five quarterback hits and eight tackles. According to Pro Football Focus, he had seven pressures. That eclipsed his production from the first three games. Entering the night, Smith had two sacks, three quarterback hits and five pressures, which put him on a pace for 10.7 sacks, 16 quarterback hits and 26.7 pressures. Those numbers lagged far behind last year’s totals of 13.5 sacks and NFL bests of 39 hits and 93 pressures.

Afterward, he got the game ball from coach Matt LaFleur. And now, for the second time of his career, he is NFC Defensive Player of the Week. He also won the award after a three-sack game with Baltimore vs. the LaFleur-coordinated Tennessee Titans in 2018.

“He called the stats,” Smith said after the game. “I forgot the stats but it was something crazy. I’m talking about on a video game. I didn’t even know I had done that much but, you know, it’s big, man, to be able to get this because he challenged me earlier this week to bring my all in this game. I’m going to continue to do it because I started out slow but, as you can see, I’m back on track now to continue to be great.”

That “challenged me” line hinted that LaFleur had to provide a motivational push for Smith. “Not at all,” LaFleur said on Tuesday.

“You always want to stay connected to your players, especially your leaders, and your captain on the defense,” LaFleur said. “He gets voted that for a reason, and it’s not only because he’s a great player and he produces for us, but he’s an inspiring player, an inspiring person, and he brings a lot of juice and energy. In order for us to perform at our best as a whole defense, he’s got to be playing at a high level. It’s awesome to see him respond and the effort that he played with. Obviously the production speaks for itself.”

Preston Smith, following a three-sack performance vs. Denver in Week 3 of last season, was the last Packers defender to win the award.