That’s not a good spot to be in for a late-round pick trying to carve out a roster spot, but Smith told me Thursday morning he’s been dealing with an abdominal issue.
He said he’ll be held out of the second preseason game, too, and when Tomlin was asked if Smith has fallen behind because of his health, the coach gave a simple but harsh answer: “Yes.”
The most productive pass-rusher in Northern Illinois history isn’t looking at it that way, though. Wednesday, Smith was in uniform and still walking through special teams drills at times, working on his punt protection off to the side but in unison with the players in full pads.
“There’s a lot of stuff I really can’t do right now. … You just don’t want the risk of re-injuring it, really,” Smith said. “I’m still going through plays, just watching a little bit more film on my phone or iPad, and just trying to stay tuned-in, mentally. That’s really the big thing.”
Smith expects to return in time for the final two preseason games, at Tennessee and Carolina, but acknowledged that it’s ultimately up to Tomlin and the training staff.
“We’ll see. It’s all up to their discretion,” said Smith, who first played through his injury for about a week. “I have no idea what their plan is, and I’m just following it, really.”
Naturally, Smith added that “it stinks” to be missing valuable time in his first NFL camp. He never dealt with this injury in college, and in fact, he never missed a game once he made his debut as a redshirt freshman. There’s no denying Smith is undersized in the pros, but he’s still confident he’ll find his niche.
“This year, my role is special teams, and that’s really the thing I want to get on right now and play a lot of,” Smith said. “Just so they know that ‘this guy can cover, this guy can tackle, this guy can play’ and stuff like that. … I think there’s a lot of room to make up in there.”
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