Smith (illness) returned to practice Wednesday, Wes Hodkiewicz of the Packers' official site reports.
Smith missed Tuesday's practice with an illness, but it appears he's already moved past the issue after returning to the field Wednesday. The 31-year-old outside linebacker has recorded eight-plus sacks in each of his last three seasons, and he's expected to remain a solid pass rusher in 2024.
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Packers' Preston Smith: Falls ill
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Smith is being limited by an illness Tuesday, Matt Schneidman of The Athletic reports.
The details of Smith's ailment are unknown at this point. It's not likely the veteran was planning on playing much during the Packers' preseason finale versus the Ravens on Saturday, but if he's absent, it could open up a few additional reps for 2023 first-rounder Lukas Van Ness.
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Packers' Preston Smith: Another productive season
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Smith stacked up 48 tackles (28 solo), 8.0 sacks, four passes defended and two fumble recoveries over 17 games in the 2023 regular season.
Smith played a little less than he did in 2022, but he still started every game and recorded at least 8.0 sacks for the fourth time in his five years with the Packers. He also added 1.5 sacks across the Packers' two playoff games. Green Bay could decide to move on from Smith over the offseason as he's due a $5.4 million roster bonus in March, but cutting him would incur a dead cap hit of nearly $14 million. The 31-year-old's consistent production might encourage the team to pursue a restructure instead.
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Packers' Preston Smith: Ready to go for divisional round
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Smith (ankle) does not carry an injury designation into Saturday's divisional-round contest versus the 49ers, Wes Hodkiewicz of the Packers official website reports.
Smith was considered a limited participant at the Packers' walkthrough Wednesday and he followed it up with a limited practice session Thursday, apparently doing enough to shed an injury designation for Saturday's game. The linebacker recorded a sack and a pass deflection in Green Bay's 48-32 win over the Cowboys in the wild-card round.
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Packers' Preston Smith: Limited Wednesday
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Smith (ankle) was limited in Wednesday's walk-through practice.
Smith has been dealing with the ankle issue for a couple weeks but was able to play through it in the wild-card upset of the Cowboys last weekend. After being estimated as DNP Tuesday, Wednesday's limited session in the walk-through is a good sign for his Saturday availability against the 49ers.
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Packers' Preston Smith: Begins week estimated as limited
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Smith (ankle) was estimated as limited at Wednesday's practice walkthrough.
Smith sat out a pair of practice sessions last week but was ultimately able to suit up for Sunday's win against Chicago. Barring any setbacks, it seems likely that he'll be able to take the field against Dallas in Sunday's wild-card contest. Smith recorded 2.5 sacks over the final three weeks of the campaign and finished with 8.0 sacks overall this season.
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Packers' Preston Smith: Impactful sack in win
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Smith had one sack and a forced fumble in Sunday's 33-10 win over the Vikings.
Smith stripped Jaren Hall late in the second quarter on a sack, causing a fumble recovered by Karl Brooks, and it led to a Jordan Love 25-yard touchdown pass to Jayden Reed three plays later. Smith is now up to 8.0 sacks this season -- just a half-sack short of his 2022 total -- and is second on the team behind Rashan Gary in that category.
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Packers' Preston Smith: Productive in win over Panthers
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Smith notched three tackles (two solo) and 1.5 sacks in Sunday's 33-30 win over the Panthers.
Smith was able to take advantage of Carolina's poor pass protection in the narrow Week 16 win, bringing his sack total to seven through 15 appearances on the season. Green Bay finishes the regular season with consecutive divisional matchups against the Vikings and Bears, both teams that have also proven vulnerable to an aggressive pass rush.
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Packers' Preston Smith: Adjusts contract
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Smith restructured his contract Saturday opening up close to $7 million in additional cap space for the Packers, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.
The Packers also restructured the contract of star cornerback Jaire Alexander, both necessary moves for the team to reach cap compliance. Smith was thought to be a potential cap casualty back in the pre-2021 offseason, but since then the 29-year-old pass rusher has tallied 17.5 sacks over the past two seasons and has become one of the team's most consistent pass rushers.
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Packers' Preston Smith: Playing in Week 9
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Smith (shoulder/neck) is listed as active for Sunday's game against the Lions, Mike Spofford of the team's official site reports.
Smith was limited during practice all week with shoulder and neck issues, but he's since been cleared for action for Sunday's contest in Detroit. The veteran is slated to operate in his usual role as the Packers' starting outside linebacker in Week 9.
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Packers' Preston Smith: Snags another sack
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Smith registered four tackles (three solo), a sack and a pass deflection in Sunday's 37-10 victory over the Vikings.
Smith totaled just two sacks over his first eight appearances of the season, but he has picked up the pace in a big way since, taking down the quarterback seven times over his last seven games. Smith's nine sacks are the second most he has recorded in his seven NFL seasons and are more than double the 4.0 sacks he tallied in 2020.
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Packers' Preston Smith: Questionable for TNF
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Smith (oblique) has been listed as questionable to play versus the Cardinals on Thursday Night Football.
The linebacker was inactive last week versus Washington, snapping a 102-game streak of being active prior. He logged a limited practice Wednesday, likely setting him up to be a game-time decision Thursday. If he can't play, the recently signed Whitney Mercilus could play a big role at outside linebacker versus Arizona.
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Packers' Preston Smith: Logs another sack in win
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Smith was credited with two solo tackles and a sack in Sunday's win over the Redskins.
With 11.5 sacks on the season, Smith now sits sixth on the NFL sack leaders list. He's registered at least half a sack in eight of his 13 games this season.
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Packers' Preston Smith: Matches career high
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Smith posted seven tackles (five solo) and a sack in Sunday's 26-11 loss to the Chargers.
This was Smith's best tackling performance of the year, and he's now matched a career high of eight sacks through just nine games. Preston and Za'Darius Smith have combined to serve one of the most dynamic pass-rushing duos in the league, accounting for 16.5 of the team's 22 sacks and both slotting in the top eight leaguewide.
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Packers' Preston Smith: Another sack Sunday
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Smith recorded four tackles (three solo) a sack and a pass defensed across 54 defensive snaps in Sunday's win over the Cowboys.
Smith now has 5.5 sacks on the year and is the clubhouse leader in Green Bay. He is currently on track to have his best statistical season. Smith will look to continue his dominant play Monday night against the Lions.
Smith logged five tackles (four solo), three sacks and one forced fumble during Sunday's 27-16 win over the Broncos.
Through three contests this season, Smith has already surpassed his 2018 sack total. The fifth-year pro appears to have found his rhythm in Green Bay and could prove a valuable weekly IDP asset if he's able to maintain consistency as a pass rusher.
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Packers' Preston Smith: Dealing with back injury
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Smith did not participate in team drills Tuesday due to back tightness, Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
Smith, who signed a lucrative four-year deal with the Packers this offseason, appears to just be battling a minor back issue. It wouldn't be surprising, however, if the Packers elected to hold the prized free agent signing out of their first preseason game Thursday as a precautionary measure. Consider him day-to-day for now.
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Redskins' Preston Smith: Unlikely to return to D.C.
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The Redskins aren't likely to use their franchise tag on Smith during the offseason, JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington reports.
While the Redskins would love to keep Smith around, Washington has one of the worst cap-space outlooks around the league this offseason and won't realistically be able to retain him even on a one-year arrangement, which would likely pay the pass rusher north of $17 million. It's even more unlikely that Washington would be able to meet Smith's asking price if he were to become an unrestricted free agent, so expect the Redskins to instead look internally, through the draft or through the bargain bin via trade or the open market to replace the 26-year-old.
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Redskins' Preston Smith: Plays all 16 games again
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Smith was a 16-game starter at outside linebacker in the final season of his rookie contract, compiling 52 tackles (30 solo), four sacks, an interception and a fumble recovery on 834 defensive snaps.
The 2015 second-round pick still hasn't developed into a top-notch pass rusher, but he does have a respectable total of 24.5 sacks through four seasons and hasn't ever missed a game. The dependability should make it easy to secure a long-term contract from another team if Smith doesn't re-sign with Washington before he's eligible to hit the open market at the beginning of the new league year. For what it's worth, coach Jay Gruden said he would like to keep the 26-year-old outside linebacker in Washington, per JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington.
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Redskins' Preston Smith: Finally gets to quarterback
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Smith produced three tackles, one sack and one forced fumble during Sunday's 16-3 victory over Tampa Bay.
Despite averaging over 50 defensive snaps per game, it took Smith nine contests to record his first sack of the season after racking up 20.5 of them over his first three years in the league. No matter, the 2015 second-round pick played a big role in this impressive showing against an explosive Buccaneers passing attack. There's a strong chance Smith can keep the good times rolling while he matches up against a below-average Texans offensive line in Week 11.
