Aldon Smith is already eagerly awaiting his 2016 Raiders return

Aldon Smith is out for a year.

Smith’s suspension is a result of an August 6 incident when he was arrested for hit-and-run and DUI. Now the Raiders must plan for this week’s game at Detroit and the rest of the season without one of their key defensive players.

Veteran safety Charles Woodson had similar emotions.

“As an organization, we’re going to do anything we can to support him“, Del Rio said.

Troubled linebacker Aldon Smith has been suspended for one year without pay, under the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, the league announced this week.

Smith was coming off one of his best games of the season in Oakland’s 30-14 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday when he had one sack and three quarterback hurries.

Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said in September that the team had done its homework on Smith’s situation and was well aware of the potential risks when signing him.

“The bottom line is, we move on, we go with the “next man up” mentality and carry on with our business”, Del Rio said.

A first-round pick out of Missouri in 2011, Smith has 3.5 sacks and 28 tackles in nine games for Oakland this season and 47.5 sacks in 59 career regular-season games. Derek Carr and Amari Cooper have been scoring the points, but Aldon Smith has certainly provided a star pass rush for the Silver and Black.

According to Pro Football Focus, Smith is second on the Raiders with 36 quarterback pressures, seven behind Mack.

“It’s always great when you have someone like him outside who draws double teams and triple teams and helps free you up sometimes”, Edwards said.

“We’re not going to see him every day, but we’re going to be in contact”, Mack said.

Unlike defensive end Justin Tuck, out for the season with a torn pectoral and on injured reserve, Smith won’t be able to rehab at the facility with his teammates, join in meetings, be on the sideline during games or talk to his coaches.

Asked who might step up in Smith’s absence, Del Rio offered only, “a capable player”.

“So we have to really get back to our fundamentals, really get back to the things that we do best and we spend that time this week to really come back to who we are”. “I had no clue it was going to happen, and it was hard, but it is what it is”.

Smith’s suspension, though widely expected around the league, caught a few members of the locker room by surprise.

Smith signed a one-year contract with Oakland just two days before the season opener.

Defensive end Khalil Mack said he would miss Smith as a teammate but will remain his friend. “It’s been tough for everybody”.

“You put your finger over one leak and something else pops up, so we’ve got to find a way to eliminate more than just one phase of the game”.

With Lofton continuing to play at a poor level, one step in the right direction could be to insert rookie inside linebacker Ben Heeney into the starting lineup. “But we’re going to keep the ball rolling”.

In August, Aldon Smith was arrested for the fifth time since 2012, and the San Francisco 49ers released him shortly after the late summer incident.

Now, the Raiders, who were in need of a pass rusher, must move on without him… despite praising him for his contribution.

He missed the first nine games of the 2014 season while serving an NFL suspension for violations of the league’s substance-abuse and personal-conduct policies.