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Former Dallas Cowboys captain Jaylon Smith is being released by the Green Bay Packers less than a month after signing with the team, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Smith has now been cut two times before the halfway mark of the 2021 season. The linebacker played in just two games for the Packers notching two tackles, and it will be interesting to see if he finds a new landing spot.
Smith was inactive for the Packers in the team’s Week 8 victory over the Cardinals. After Green Bay made the move to sign Smith on October 7, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur explained why the team added the linebacker.
“I’ve always had a lot of respect for him, not only as a football player but as a man,” LaFleur noted, per Sports Illustrated. “He was one of my favorites when I was at Notre Dame. …He’s got a great presence, No. 1. He’s got an infectious personality. He’s a guy that everybody on the team really gravitated to, was a great leader not only by example but vocal, as well. And then he was a pretty damn good player, too. He was the complete package.”
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Jones on Smith’s Release: ‘It Was [Hard] Principally Because He’s Such a Warrior’
The Cowboys opted to release Smith on October 6, in part, because the team did not want to be on the hook for the linebacker’s 2022 salary. Smith had an injury clause in his contract that would have made the Cowboys responsible for his salary in 2022 if he sustained a season-ending injury. Jones admitted that Smith’s health played a role in the team’s decision to release him.
“Well, it was [hard] principally because he’s such a warrior,” Jones noted during an October 8 interview with Dallas’ 105.3 the Fan. “He really was what you think about when you think of somebody overcoming adversity and for this game. He had [a] great hurdle to overcome to overcome his injury and that drop foot, it’s called drop foot that he had and still takes him to this day, was mind over matter in my mind. Now, there was a lot of physical rehab they had to do to people such as specifically Jason Witten and such as Sean Lee. When they would work with him as he was rehabbing [they] would tell me we’ve never seen anybody go to the levels that he’ll push himself for this rehab or to overcome this injury, we’ve never seen anybody.
“Well, look at who’s saying that, Witten and Sean Lee. So, he had the right stuff and I thought it was really unfortunate because I love what he’s about as a person and the fact that he’s worked so hard as far as entrepreneurial [efforts] supporting of minority entrepreneurs. And he has that understanding of how to take it and run with it and that one in one can be three. So he had a combination of not just talking about it on the field, he did it on the field. He had a combination of talking about it and doing it off the field. I think he’s going to be an outstanding success and he has already, but an outstanding success beyond his football career.”
Smith Played Just 27 Snaps Before Being Released
The Packers opted to end the short experiment with Smith instead valuing the additional roster spot. Smith played just 27 snaps before being released by Green Bay.
“Can confirm that the Packers have released ILB Jaylon Smith. His tryout lasted 27 snaps in two games, which isn’t exactly a lot of time to prove himself,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Silverstein tweeted on November 2. “But the Packers probably need the roster spot for Bakhtiari or MVS and/or anyone they sign or trade for by end of the day.”
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