Reeder's Take

    Here’s more from the Steve Smith interview:
  

   WR Steve Smith isn’t sure if he’ll be ready for Carolina’s Sept. 13 regular season opener against Philadelphia.
   “If I can play, then I’m playing, whether it be preseason or regular season,” Smith said Tuesday. “If I can’t play, I won’t play. If I’m not going to be effective and be able to compete, then it’s not best for the team. You’ve got to be comfortable where you are, that you can help. If I’m a lame duck out there, just the 11th guy that’s just out there, I don’t think that really benefits the team.”
   Smith said he injured the shoulder when he hit the ground Monday night, not when he collided with cornerback Chris Gamble.
   “I felt it immediately,” he said. “The good thing is, I thought it was broke, because it started hurting immediately. But it’s not, so we’ll be playing it by ear with (trainer) Ryan (Vermillion). The training staff is doing a good job with icing it to death and doing all the stuff that’s necessary.”
   Smith injured the drill while trying to make a leaping grab in the end zone during a non-padded practice.
   “We were doing one-on-ones. Two competitors going after the ball, accidents happen,” Smith said. “I know, I spoke to Gamble and I know it wasn’t a malicious act or trying to do it personally, but I was still upset, because going through camp, whether you’re nine years or one year, no one wants to get hurt. That same time, they want to get through camp peacefully and injury free so you can go into the season without little things nagging. Because once the real bullets are going, it’s going to be a lot more to concern yourself about.”
   Smith injured that same right shoulder in a preseason game last August against Washington but was ready to go when he returned from his suspension in Week 3 and went on to play in his fourth Pro Bowl after yet another stellar season.
   “It did linger a little bit, but I did rehab this off-seaosn and worked on it,” Smith said. “It was more frustration because I worked my tail off this offseason to strengthen it and make sure it didn’t happen. But then also, those freak things happen.”

   X-rays on Smith’s shoulder were negative, but he hasn’t ruled out having an MRI in the future.

   “As far as (an MRI), that’s going to be determined by the medical staff and myself,” he said. “It’s not something I’m really going to publicize. Whatever goes on between the medical staff and myself and my side of it, we’ll discuss that and keep that between us. I think that’s more important and more safe… It just depends on what decisions we make. Just like everything else, if I go back (to Charlotte) or not, you (the media) won’t know.”

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