Perhaps the best sign that Rod Smith had recovered from the pair of big hits he took during the Broncos’ 30-10 victory over Kansas City on Monday night was the fact that the veteran wide receiver didn’t want to talk about them.
“So what – I knew it would be a tough game,” Smith said. “Somebody was going to get knocked out. Well, I got knocked down. I didn’t get knocked out.”
That has proved to be virtually impossible throughout Smith’s 11-year career. As Smith lay on the turf at Invesco Field at Mile High after his second dinger, Chiefs safety Sammy Knight asked of no one in particular, “How does this guy keep doing this?”
Indeed, on Monday, Smith achieved an NFL first – becoming the first undrafted player to gain 10,000 receiving yards in a career. True to his irascible nature, Smith was initially hesitant to discuss the accomplishment, saying he would prefer to dwell on such things at the conclusion of his career. But, he added, “the thing is, you want to keep going and try to get more, because I know if I’m doing that, then I’m helping the team.”
But while Smith appears good to go for Sunday’s game at Jacksonville, things aren’t as clear for another of the Broncos’ key players, cornerback Champ Bailey.
Bailey injured his left hamstring late in the second quarter while making a tackle on Chiefs running back Tony Richardson. That was the same hamstring that kept him out of the entire preseason.
Leaving the field after the game, Bailey said he would undergo an MRI today, adding that it was hard to immediately tell whether the latest injury was worse than the one during the preseason.
Of course, Bailey perhaps wasn’t supposed to be on the field at all, playing for the second straight week with a separated left shoulder, an injury that initially was thought could keep him off the field as long as six weeks.
So it was that his teammates said they wouldn’t be surprised if Bailey made another miraculous comeback.
“I don’t know the extent of the injury but I know that’s Champ Bailey,” safety Nick Ferguson said. “It’s hard to keep a guy like that down.”
There was similar levity surrounding Smith, whose reaction to the blows to head was the topic of a great deal of locker room humor.
“He was a little shaky out there,” wide receiver Charlie Adams said. “He was in La-La Land; on the play he got hurt, he didn’t remember anything; he didn’t know if it was a run or a pass or what.”
Moments later, though, Adams admitted he would be the one taking some special memories from watching Smith’s record-setting performance.
“He’s just a great guy to model yourself after,” Adams said. “You look at him and you know you don’t have to be a high draft pick or go to a big-name school, you can just go to work every day and maybe do things like Rod Smith did.”
Monday mayhem
Most receptions on “Monday Night Football” among active players:
(Player || Total receptions)
Rod Smith 100
Torry Holt 90
Terrell Owens 88
Keyshawn Johnson 73
Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
