Mike Shanahan was asked Monday whether it felt strange not to have Rod Smith at Dove Valley.
“Rod Smith is here,” Shanahan said.
Smith is here, all right. He just isn’t wearing a uniform. Which brings us to the big-picture question: Will he ever wear one again?
The question won’t go away until Smith proves he’s healthy enough to make the roster after off-season hip surgery. At the moment, he’s biding his time on the physically-unable-to-perform (PUP) list, working out and doing some light running.
That will have to change and quickly. Time waits for no man in the Not For Long, not even Smith, the leading receiver in Broncos history.
For all the speculation about Smith’s future, he isn’t among those who fear the end is near.
“I believe a lot more than other people believe,” Smith said. “Trust me, I’ve got a lot left. Why the heck would I be out here if I didn’t believe that?”
Age cuts both ways in the NFL. On one hand, it makes you vulnerable to younger, less expensive players. On the other, it earns you a little slack from the head coach.
To wit: Shanahan recently sat down with the 37-year-old Smith and told him he could set up his own timetable for returning.
“It blew my mind,” Smith said. “I didn’t realize how he saw me until he told me. He said, ‘When you’re ready to go, you let me know.’ I was like, ‘What?’ He said, ‘I trust you, I trust you won’t hurt the team and you’ll make the right decisions.'”
The hope is that Smith can play in a few weeks, but he says playing in the preseason “isn’t make or break” for his chances of making the roster. Having said that, “I don’t get to make the decision,” he said. “I’m here as long as they want me here.”
Smith has a few words for those who believe he’s at the end after catching only 52 passes for three touchdowns last season: Don’t judge him on those numbers. He says his hip kept him from making plays that he normally would have made with ease.
So will he make them again in the future? Only time will tell. For the here and now, Smith will keep working and keep the faith.
“It’s hard,” he said, “but it’s life.”
Jim Armstrong issues regular reports from training camp throughout the day along with video takes from the sidelines and snippets where fans get to do the talking. Visit .
