Za'Darius Smith Claims Matt LaFleur Has Banned Packers Defenders From Doing Sack Celebrations

Young head coaches can sometimes have trouble enforcing discipline on their team.

But in Green Bay, it seems Matt LaFleur has no issue doing such, even if it takes away a bit of the fun for his defense.

Star linebacker Za'Darius Smith told reporters on on Thursday that the Packers coach banned sack celebrations after Monday's win over the Lions.

Big news out of the #Packers locker room: Za'Darius Smith says sack celebrations have been well... sacked. Apparently Matt LaFleur says they were taking too much time. "I had one for this week. It was going to be nice." pic.twitter.com/BYetRafmUY
— Ryan Rodig (@ryanrodigwfrv) October 17, 2019

LaFleur apparently thought that the celebrations were taking up too much time in some situations. The time Packer defenders take to celebrate could impact the punt team or the defense if the opposing offense wants to go for it on fourth down.

Smith's celebration against the Lions included him lying down and pretending to take a nap.

The celebration came after Smith was fined for missing a team meeting, or as he described it, he was "caught sleeping."

New from JSOnline and PackersNews: Packers pull the plug on Za'Darius Smith's sack celebrations https://t.co/pOkNMFsAxl #Packers
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) October 17, 2019

The 27-year-old told reporters that he had another celebration planned for next week and jokingly asked them to try to convince LaFleur or NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to bring let Green Bay's defense bring the celebrations back.