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Lions fans will have to wait a week to see the debut of new edge rusher Za’Darius Smith. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Smith, who was acquired by the Lions on Tuesday just before the trade deadline, will not play Sunday night against the Houston Texans.
https://twitter.com/rapsheet/status/1855506929985958069?s=46&t=CkJbCrfGw4guyBfYltR-YA
Rapoport reports Smith is “not quite ready.” This could also be a case of the Lions giving Smith some time off. The Browns did not have their bye week before making this trade and the Lions have already had their bye week.
In other words, if Smith had played today, he would have potentially not had his own bye week and could have played 18 games. So this could also be simple load management by the Lions.