Za’Darius Smith records a sack in Lions debut

Za’Darius Smith delights Detroit fans after recording a sack in his Lions debut.

When the Detroit Lions traded for Za’Darius Smith ahead of Week 10, the team initially gave him the week off to acclimate and take care of some personal business surrounding his home in Florida (dealing with the aftereffects of a hurricane). Smith joined the team for their game in Houston, and while he did not play, he was on the sidelines encouraging his new teammates.

Following that game, Smith discussed with multiple media outlets about how excited he was to be in Detroit and how much he was looking forward to getting on the field and contributing.

In Week 11 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Smith got the start and saw snaps at both defensive end spots, as well as inside at defensive tackle. While he was consistently pushing the offensive line around, he was relatively quiet in the statistical columns for most of the game.

Then, in the fourth quarter, with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game, the Jaguars (down 49-6) went for it on fourth down, and Detroit sent the blitz, setting Smith up with a one-on-one with the right guard. Smith executes a quick swim move, blows past the block, and records his first sack as a Lion:

Including his time with the Browns , Smith now has six sacks on the season, which is currently the second most on the team.

Congrats, Za’Darius.