**Za'Darius Smith Energized After Trade to Detroit Lions, Hopes to Play Sunday**

On Friday, Za'Darius Smith addressed the media for the first time since his trade from the Cleveland Browns to the Detroit Lions. The 32-year-old veteran displayed a noticeable sense of excitement about joining his new team.

Prior to the trade being finalized, Smith expressed his impatience with a cryptic "SMH" tweet, reflecting his eagerness to move to Detroit. He later deleted the tweet, acknowledging his impatience.

"It was just taking too long," Smith admitted. "But obviously they got it done, and I deleted it. Sorry to the fans that were thinking otherwise."

Smith clarified that his eagerness wasn't rooted in dissatisfaction with Cleveland, despite the Browns' rocky 2-7 start this season. He appreciated Browns general manager Andrew Berry involving him in the trade discussions and thanked the organization for his tenure there.

"(I) thank them, man, for just having me for two years—well, a year and a half—and trading me here for basically giving me a chance to go do something great," Smith said.

Upon arriving in Detroit, the Lions accommodated Smith with time off, recognizing that he had initially planned for a bye week while with Cleveland. This break allowed Smith to address personal matters, including inspecting his Florida home recently affected by hurricanes.

"Happy that I got a couple days, got a chance to go back home to Florida and see my house from the hurricane, and it's real bad down there," Smith noted. "But I'm glad he gave me the opportunity to go back home to see that."

Looking forward to this Sunday's game against the Houston Texans, Lions coach Dan Campbell had yet to make a final decision on Smith's participation. However, Smith sounded keen to hit the field as soon as possible.

"It's more about just getting the plays in, and knowing the blitzes," Smith said. "They basically want me to be on cue for the blitzes, so hopefully something can work out here in the next 24 hours."

Reflecting on his initial practice with the team on Friday, Smith expressed optimism and admiration for the Lions.

"Man, the things that we're doing in practice, I see why this football team is so dominant," he said.