L.J. feels 'renewed' with Ravens
Former Eagles tight end L.J. Smith is looking to prove his doubters wrong as a member of the Baltimore Ravens.
L.J. feels 'renewed' with Ravens
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Former Eagles tight end L.J. Smith is looking to prove his doubters wrong as a member of the Baltimore Ravens.
“I feel like I’m renewed, that I have a new spirit,” Smith told Mike Duffy of baltimoreravens.com. “I feel like I’m in a place where I can hopefully reach my potential. People would say, ‘Oh, he hasn’t reached his potential, blah, blah, blah.’
“Hopefully, I can do that here and help this team get to a place we all want to be, and that’s the Super Bowl.”
Smith, who missed four games last season and six in 2007, took issue with critics assigning him with the injury label.
“It was kind of nerve-wracking,” Smith said. “The last few years, I’ve dealt with injuries, which makes [free agency] frustrating. That was one of the red flags about me in the market. It’s just something you have to deal with as a player.
“I always worked hard during the offseason for the regular season, so it wasn’t about getting ready at all with me. They were just freak accidents. But, I’m here, and I’m in a good spot.”
In other news...
** The NFL owners have voted to change the way draft order is decided, according to John Clayton of ESPN.com. The order for non-playoff teams remains the same. It will be decided by regular-season record. The change takes effect for playoff teams. Losers in the wild-card round will have picks 21 through 24, based on record. Losers in the divisional round get picks 25 through 28. The championship game losers get 29 and 30, followed by the Super Bowl loser and of course the champ. The change would have affected the Eagles this year. The Birds got the 21st pick for finishing 9-6-1 last season. Under the new format, they would have gotten the 29th pick for getting to the NFC championship. Per Clayton, the new order will take place in 2010.
** Terrell Owens will receive the Alzheimer's Association's first Young Champions Award in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday night, which partially could explain why he's not at Bills' voluntary workouts. I was told by reader Rajiv to post this item because T.O. is made out to be a villain too often. So there you go.
** And finally, cornerback Donald Strickland has agreed to terms with the New York Jets, according to profootballtalk.com. Strickland spent time with the Eagles in 2005.
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what will more likely happen he is will have a career year, be a great complement to Heap and give Joe Audubon High School a nice target. Don't you know we keep injured players who did big things and stay healthy elsewhere.. Which makes me wonder if we only re-signed Derrick Burgess..— albertpa- Comment removed.
- l j smith, you got to be kidding!— JACK V
- At least LJ Smith got his injuries from taking hits over the middle trying to get extra yards. He's not like one of these guys who mysteriously pulls a hamstring every training camp that miraculously heals the week before the season opener. You can call the guy injury prone if you want, but he wasn't a soft player. The guy was always fighting for more yards even if that meant getting crunched between 3 defenders. As for the drops, anyone who's watched the Eagles games over the last few years knows that a lot of LJ's drops weren't on well-thrown balls. McNabb threw at LJ's feet more than any of his other receivers for some reason. There were several times that LJ could have gone to the house on great routes over the middle only to have McNabb throw the ball behind him or at his feet. There have also been a number of passes that I've seen LJ practically dig out of the ground. LJ is like the Pat Burrell of the Eagles as far as the fans are concerned. He was the designated whipping boy of the fans. The guy is no Jason Witten or Antonio Gates but he's definitely not as bad as some people would like to think. Wonder who'll be the guy on this year's roster that the fans continually whine and complain about. I'd say Reggie Brown probably has the early lead on that role.— JimG
- The red flag about LJ Smith wasn't his injuries. He doesn't get open that often.— p-diddy
- LJ finishes his sentences like he finished his blocks: blah, blah, blah. He wasn't even the best tight end to come out of Rutgers. JimG, I see your Reggie Brown and raise you Jamal Jackson.— dragoon6
- i graduated the same year as LJ at Rutgers. He was playing in an intramural semifinal basketball game two nights before the NFL draft. They ended up winning that night and he played the championship game a few nights later. What kind of idiot risks injury in a intramural bball game when there are millions of dollars at stake? I was IRATE when the Eagles selected him, not only for that and but the fact that he played for RU, one of the worst football teams in America his 4 years there!!! They were so bad we used to tailgate and go home before kickoff to watch the 12pm games at the bars!!!— ag
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- so jimg your saying mcnabb was the reason l.j. smith dropped so many passes and couldnt stay healthy here??? i guess that pass against tampa in the end zone l.j. dropped was a bad pass too huh?? some ppl will find a way to blame donavan for everything wrong w/ this team.— the tru 1
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