Cincinnati Bengals
Smith progressing
By C. Trent Rosecrans, CNATI.com Posted December 3, 2009 4:19 PM ET
It was nearly December before the Bengals' first-round pick made his NFL debut, but Andre Smith did finally play last week against Cleveland. However, unlike other seasons in Bengals lore, there are things other than the previous and upcoming draft to concentrate on as the season's final month begins.
Andre Smith
Smith played "10 or 12" snaps, according to offensive line coach Paul Alexander and looked better as the game went on.
"He did OK in the game, he did OK," Alexander said. "He practiced better this week, which helped for him to get his feet wet a little bit. You know, it's hard to get him in there too much, because, frankly (Dennis) Roland's playing so good, it's hard to disrupt the chemistry of what you've got going. He works hard and works his way in, we'll go with the pace that he's going."
Smith said he was nervous when he first got in, and that showed as he wiffed on a man in his first NFL snap.
"In the beginning I was a little jittery," Smith said. "It was my first game ever, and it'd always been a dream to actually play in the NFL and I've actually done it. As the game went on, everything came unrobotic. It was all natural."
As the game went on, he was able to hit some people and get going in the running game.
Alexander said the little bit of time in the game has served Smith well into this week.
"All you can worry about him is how he did today in practice," Alexander said. "From an outside perspective, people have high expectations, but you're best if separate yourself from that, just trust your eyes and do what's right."
The bit-by-bit emersion into the offense is out of necessity because Smith held out for all of training camp and then missed the first six weeks of the season because of a foot injury. He was inactive for the first 10 games, before suiting up for the Browns game.
Pervious Bengals first-round picks on the line such as Willie Anderson and Levi Jones were eased into action, much like Smith, although neither of those had the early injury, both were reserves or their first few games. Anderson made his first start in the seventh game, Jones the sixth. Also, neither of those teams were in a playoff run.
"The most important consideration about when he gets on the field is what do we have to do to win the game?" Alexander said. "Winning the game is way more important than the development of Andre Smith and that's the approach we're taking. We're right in the thick of something special, we have to make sure we see that through."
Categories: Cincinnati Bengals, Featured Stories, News
Tags: Andre Smith, Dennis Roland, Paul Alexander
Comments (0)