Despite trading for him on Tuesday, the Detroit Lions are expected to be without Za’Darius Smith Sunday night vs. the Texans.
Detroit Lions defensive end Za’Darius Smith is not expected to make his Lions debut this week against the Houston Texans. According to Ian Rapoport, Smith is “not quite ready” and is not expected to play on Sunday night.
The Lions traded for Smith on Tuesday right before the trade deadline, hoping to add some pass rush in the wake of Aidan Hutchinson’s injury about a month ago. As an act of kindness, the Lions gave Smith—who was about to enter his bye week with the Cleveland Browns—Wednesday and Thursday off to take care of personal matters.
“Happy that I got a couple days, got a chance to go back home to Florida and see my house from the Hurricane, and it’s real bad down there,” Smith told media on Friday. “But I’m glad he gave me the opportunity to go back home to see that.”
It was clear from his introductory media session that Smith wanted to play, but it appears to have been a case of not quite getting up to speed in time.
“It’s more about just getting the plays in, and knowing the blitzes,” Smith said. “They basically want me to be on cue for the blitzes, so hopefully something can work out here in the next 24 hours.”
While Smith won’t be joining the lineup yet, the Lions are getting some players back on the defensive line. Josh Paschal, who missed the last two weeks with a health scare, is off the injury report and expected to start. Additionally, rookie sixth-round pick Mekhi Wingo, who missed last week with an ankle injury, is good to go for Sunday night.
