L.J. Smith injured; Dawk wants contact

Not at camp today, but some other links to pass along:

** Former Eagles tight end L.J. Smith has been sidelined in Baltimore with a hamstring strain. Per Aaron Wilson of the Carroll County Times, Smith has been rehabbing in the pool at the team hotel.

"We're just being careful with it to make sure that I can play in the preseason game," Smith said. "The best-case scenario is next week, middle to late portion of the week. You don't want it to feel good and then go out there and push it and pull and it go back to ground zero. I'll gradually build up.

"I'm not having any problems with the hernia or groin. That's fine. The way I hurt it, it was just hot out there and I was running a lot and it just caught up with me. Luckily, it's not a bad hamstring pull. It's just a tweak."

Why does it seem like I've heard this before?

** At the other end of the spectrum is Brian Dawkins, who is taking part in his first training camp with a team other than the Eagles. The place has changed, but the attitude is the same.

Headline from The Denver Post: Dawkins: More contact, please.

"As a matter of fact, I was looking for some live periods, because that's what I'm used to," he said, per the article. "I'm used to, what they call 'tackling to the ground.'"

Dawkins explained the mentality he's trying to bring to Denver.

"You've got to be a little crazy to play defense and run into somebody full speed and like it," Dawkins said. "That's the mentality we have to develop – that everybody likes to run into guys full speed and sacrifice yourself for your team."

And you wonder why this city embraced the guy the way it did.

** And finally, the number of first-round picks that remain unsigned is dwindling. As of this post, 19 players have agreed to terms. Jeremy Maclin, of course, is not one of them. Robert Ayers, the player selected one spot ahead of Maclin, is unsigned, but picks 15 through 17 are all under contracts. Brandon Pettigrew and Alex Mack, picks 20 and 21, have both agreed to terms. CAA, which represents Maclin and eight other first-round picks, has six of nine players under contract. Joining Maclin as unsigned first-round picks are Knowshon Moreno and Malcolm Jenkins.

Update: Bob Brookover over at Birds' Eye View reports that a Maclin deal is close.