Last week, the Detroit Lions made a strategic trade for defensive end Za’Darius Smith to strengthen their pass rush and run defense, especially after several injuries to their edge defenders.

Fans were eager to see Smith in action during the primetime “Sunday Night Football” matchup against the Houston Texans.

However, the Lions coaching staff decided to take a more considerate approach.

Smith had already been scheduled for a bye week before the trade was finalized, and the Lions chose to honor that. Rather than rushing him into the lineup, they gave him two days off before even meeting the team.

This time allowed Smith to check on his Florida home and family, which had been impacted by recent hurricanes.

Upon Smith’s arrival in Detroit on Friday, the coaching staff felt that it would be best for him to sit out the game against the Texans, giving him more time to adjust.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell explained the decision, saying, “There was a thought about playing him, but we just felt like the right thing to do was just sit him this week, we just did.

We’ll let him get his bearings and, there again, that’s a game off his body and now we can go.”

This thoughtful gesture caught the attention of former Lions defensive tackle Damon “Snacks” Harrison, who had experienced a similar situation in 2018.

At that time, Harrison was traded to the Lions in the middle of the season, but unlike Smith, he had not yet had his bye week.

With Detroit already having had theirs, Harrison was thrown straight into action, playing in his first game just days after the trade. He ended up playing 62% of the defensive snaps in his debut, despite not starting.

That season, Harrison became one of the few players in the NFL to appear in all 17 games, but it came at the cost of his body’s recovery.

Reflecting on the difference in approach between then and now, Harrison expressed his admiration for Campbell’s decision to give Smith the time off.

On Twitter, Harrison wrote, “I’d run through an army tank for dude if he’d done that for me! I finally see what the players, staff, and city of Detroit see in him…Dan THE Man!!!”

Harrison had a productive run with the Lions during the 2018 season, but his time in Detroit ended abruptly in 2020. Despite receiving a contract extension in 2019, he was released by the team six months later.

At the time, Harrison referred to the move as a “mutual parting,” though he later admitted he was eager to leave Detroit that season.

It’s easy to wonder how his experience in Detroit might have been different had there been a coaching staff like Campbell’s in charge during his time with the team.