If Ainias Smith looks like a different person this summer, there’s a good reason for it.
Smith, one of the Eagles’ 5th-round picks last year, muddled through training camp last year with a stress fracture in his shin – the Eagles called it an ankle injury – that eventually landed him on Injured Reserve for two months.
Now he’s healthy and the difference is obvious.
“I feel healthy,” he said. “Being able to get back and work hard during the offseason and have a true OTA this year. So that was a little different. Just continue to try to get better and improve.”
Smith caught a touchdown pass Saturday afternoon for the second straight preseason game and along with his 46-yard punt return in the preseason opener he’s made a very good impression as he battles for a roster spot as the fourth or fifth receiver and possible punt returner.
He’s the first Eagle with two TD catches in the preseason since another 5th-round pick, Shelton Gibson in 2017. And his 46-yard punt return is longest by any NFC returner this summer.
None of that guarantees the 24-year-old Smith anything, but he’s definitely making an impression that he didn’t make last year. That he couldn’t make last year.
“I mean, last year he was battling an injury early on in the spring and then this year he’s been healthy and just been able to be himself,” receivers coach Aaron Moorehead said last week. “Natural quickness and power coming out of his body. He’s got good speed and last year, I don’t know that he was really able to showcase that.
“As the year went on, he got better as he got healthier. But this year he’s been doing a really good job being able to feel like himself. Sometimes in camp, that’s half the battle, just feeling like yourself and being able to showcase everything you’ve got to the best of your ability.”
Smith was inactive the first six games last year and 10 games overall. He got only 49 offensive snaps and none on special teams until the meaningless year-ender vs. the Giants, when he flashed a bit with four catches for 35 yards and his first NFL touchdown.
This summer, he’s competed mainly with Johnny Wilson and Darius Cooper for the fourth and possibly fifth WR spot. That position got a little more competitive Sunday when the Eagles acquired 2022 2nd-round pick John Metchie from the Texans. Metchie had 40 catches, 412 yards and a TD in two seasons in Houston.
But his presence doesn’t change the fact that Smith has shown tremendous improvement this year.
“I think you’ve seen his explosiveness that we saw at Texas A&M, and his ability to get out of breaks,” Nick Sirianni said post-game. “I felt like I started to see that as well last year as he started to recover.
“He’s got the ability to separate, he’s got ability to make plays, and he made a couple nice plays. He had a 3rd-down conversion early in the game and then he had the 3rd-and-9 at the 9 where he separated and had the touchdown catch. He has the ability to separate because he has good body quicks.”
Smith is definitely a roster bubble guy. If the Eagles keep five receivers, the fourth and fifth could very well be Wilson and Smith, last year’s two late-round picks. If they only keep four, Wilson is probably ahead of Smith. And who knows where Metchie will fit in the equation.
But Smith is getting noticed.
And you know the Eagles love his attitude. After the game Saturday afternoon, he wouldn’t even talk about his touchdown catch from Kyle McCord because the Eagles lost.
Sirianni will love that.
“Yeah, it was cool, but it’s a team game,” he said. “So the job really is not done at all. We didn’t come out with the win, so I’m not really too much concerned about the touchdown. We should have kept scoring to get the W.”
