L.J. Smith aggravates sports hernia

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The final chapter on L.J. Smith's attempt to return from his spring sports hernia surgery hasn't been written yet.

The most recent chapter was penned yesterday and it included some ominous developments for the Eagles tight end. Smith, after running by linebacker Chris Gocong, caught a pass in the middle of the field during a non-contact drill at Lehigh University. Almost immediately after the catch, Smith went to his knees and couldn't get up, prompting Gocong to signal for assistance from the trainers.

Practice was over for the starting tight end.

Smith, initially examined by trainers in a medical tent that sits in the middle of the practice fields, was eventually carted off. A team spokesman said after practice that Smith had aggravated his sports hernia injury.

Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb didn't see the play that led to Smith's early exit, but he saw the aftermath.

"I was on the other field and just kind of saw him in the fetal position," McNabb said. "Any time you see a player go down, you ask who that player is, what happened, and is he OK."

Speaking from experience, McNabb wasn't surprised to see Smith aggravate the sports hernia that was surgically repaired a little more than two months ago.

"The thing the doc would always tell me was, 'Don't be shocked if you have a setback,' " McNabb said. "Having that same kind of injury . . . and having it surgically repaired . . . it's something you have to battle through, and right now he's going through another phase of it. I hope everything kind of works itself out and he gets back out here being able to be the L.J. we all know."

Smith, in the final year of his contract with the Eagles, has to hope the same thing, but he must also be deeply concerned given the developments over the last few days. Coach Andy Reid held Smith out of contact drills for the first six days of camp, and then worked him in briefly Tuesday during a live hitting period.

McNabb entered the 2005 season with a sports hernia and it nagged him until his season prematurely ended after just nine games when he suffered a complete tear of the groin that required surgery.

Smith's injury wasn't as severe as what McNabb endured in a Monday night loss against Dallas, but there's also an example in the Eagles' locker room of a player who had sports hernia surgery before training camp and returned. That story belongs to punter Dirk Johnson, and it didn't have a happy ending either.

Johnson underwent surgery in June 2005 and punted the first seven games of the regular season before his injury became so severe that he needed a second surgery.

"I've been there, so I know it's a nagging thing," Johnson said. "Sometimes you do something and it feels good and other days it's not. It's a total roller coaster with how you feel. It's miserable. It really is miserable when you think about anything going on with your midsection. You don't realize how much you use it and how much it affects you until something like this."

Initially encouraged by how he felt following his first taste of contact Tuesday, Smith was unable to return to the practice field Wednesday, and now there's no telling when he'll return.

"The thing I tried to tell him early on was just to go slow with it," McNabb said. "There'll be days when it feels healed and it's not. Everything will get better in time, but you need to have patience."

That's easier said than done, especially for a guy who is trying to land the first big contract of his NFL career. It's also safe to assume that the Eagles' potentially potent offense might not be quite so dangerous with veteran Matt Schobel and rookie Brent Celek as the primary tight ends instead of Smith.

Though Smith doesn't fit into the star category of someone like San Diego's Antonio Gates or Kansas City's Tony Gonzalez, he has proven to be a productive tight end. In his second season as the Eagles' starter last year, he ranked 10th among NFL tight ends in catches (50) and 12th in receiving yards (611), and was tied for seventh in touchdowns (five).

"It's tough any time you lose one of your weapons," McNabb said. "I think with the three of us - myself, [Brian] Westbrook and L.J. - we're able to work the inside of the field. We would love to have L.J. out there. But knowing the situation, we want him to be healthy and ready to go when he comes back."

It would be difficult for either Schobel or Celek to provide that kind of production. Schobel has never caught more than 27 passes in a season and has never had more than 332 yards receiving.

The final chapter hasn't been written on Smith's season, but the latest chapter was obviously a painful one that reminded us all what McNabb and Johnson went through two seasons ago.

Camp updates at http://go.philly.com/eaglescampblog.

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