Preston Smith Will Have to Carry Load for Smith Bros.

Preston Smith is off to a good start compared to last season. Now, the Green Bay Packers will need a lot more with Za'Darius Smith out indefinitely.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – At the start of the offseason, fans clamored for, and expected, the release of highly paid outside linebacker Preston Smith.

Good thing general manager Brian Gutekunst found some middle ground by agreeing to a renegotiated, incentive-laded contract with Smith. With Za’Darius Smith out indefinitely following back surgery and the Packers down to just one Smith Bro., the defense will need Preston Smith to build upon his improved start to the season.

“I’m really proud of Preston,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said this week. “Preston’s come in after taking a pay cut and been a great teammate, a great leader, he’s practiced really well. Rashan (Gary), you’ve seen the growth every single year. You knew he was going to keep being an ascending player. But I am really proud of Preston, the way that he’s played and battled and led. I’ve thought he’s played good all three games.”

Relayed Rodgers’ quote on Thursday, Preston Smith said, “You’re going to make me tear up in here. That’s my quarterback.”

Going deeper, he continued, “Nah, just my mind-set, just to come in and play at a high level, dominate, be the best teammate I can be, regardless of the off-the-field stuff. Like, people don’t understand, it’s a business. I’m a business. The situation is just a business. And you’ve got to understand business and never put your feelings into it, and just handle it the correct way. Because who knows? If I have a great season, would I see a bigger payday from this pay cut? That could happen, but that’s not my mind-set.

“My mind-set is to come in here and be the best teammate I can be and try to produce great results down the line after coming close the last two years in a row in the NFC Championship, seeing how close we were and what it can take to get over the hump. And the culture here, I was happy to be a part of it, come in and play at a high level and be a great teammate to these guys and not focus on the outside stuff. That’s why I hire an agent for and my representation team to handle stuff like that so I can come in and just be a football player.”

Smith is right about potentially seeing a bigger payday. He could be collecting sacks of cash if he hits on incentives. He’s got one sack in three games this season, an unimpressive number, but his eight pressures put him on a 17-game pace of 45, which would be up significantly from last year’s 26. His pass-rush win rate is 12.2 percent, up from 9.8 percent last year, according to Pro Football Focus. He had 55 pressures and a 14.0 percent win rate in 2019, when he had a career-high dozen sacks.

“I guess it’s gratifying,” he said, “but I don’t think about the past. I just think about the now because, if I dwell on the past, I’m not going to have that bright of a future. So, I just try not to think about it as much and just focus on week-in, week-out. How can I prepare to be better than I was last week? Not that far in the past, but last week. When I watch that film, I put it on my mind, the coach says you did good or you need to fix this, all right, I’m fixing it for the next week to be better. Whether it’s a lot or a little. I’m critical when I watch the film. I don’t care if I did make a great play. What can I do better on this play? Like even on the tackle for loss on the toss play on the running back (Trey) Sermon. Yeah, that was a great play by me, getting off the blocks or whatever, but it should’ve been more clean in my eyes.”

One change under first-year defensive coordinator Joe Barry is Smith has been used less in coverage. The narrative that Smith dropped into coverage more last season was completely false. Actually, on a percentage basis, he dropped into coverage less in 2020 than 2019. However, Smith played coverage 39 times in the first three games of last season. This season, it’s only eight.

Smith said that’s allowed him to get a better feel for the action. He had only three pressures at this point last year.

“I like to be in rhythm early,” he said, “hitting some guys, getting some rushes in, getting a feel for the game, and then I can get in my flow and get in my zone and I can play the way I know I can play.”