Rod Smith forced into conservative game plan

Receiver is patient during recovery from hip surgery

Jeff Legwold, Rocky Mountain News

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

ENGLEWOOD - In his get-it- done, here-and-now football life, Broncos receiver Rod Smith always has been served well by doing a little more, pushing a little harder.

But as he continues his recovery from offseason left hip surgery, Smith finds himself wrestling with a new skill set - the wait-and-see approach.

"I know all my grinding over the years got me to that point, got me to the injury, and I'm OK with it," Smith said Tuesday. "I did all of the things I did and I've turned it into a pretty decent career. I wish it - well, I definitely plan on having it end better than me standing around watching.

"But I know I can't rush it, too, hurt it more, and then maybe that's it. You rush it, that's one of the possibilities, that I wreck the rest of my career. It's all about patience right now. If I can't do it, I'm not going to go out there and do it."

Smith has not participated in any of the Broncos' offseason workouts since undergoing surgery on his left hip Feb. 23.

Having finally submitted to surgery after three years of aching, Smith said Dr. Marc Philippon of the Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Vail found degenerative damage, a torn labrum, injured ligaments and "some bone spurs in there."

And with only 18 days remaining until the Broncos report to training camp, Smith said his sole objective is to return healthy at some point for the 2007 season and not rush reinjuring the hip again in his zeal to get back on the field.

"As an athlete, you can take yourself too far . . . ," Smith said. "You can really damage yourself. It's not really a machine - it works like one, but it's not. There are parts in there that work together and need to function properly, and if you don't give them time, the ability to function properly, you're going to tear up something.

"And I can't afford that. I've played long enough and I think I've done enough good things and I've earned the respect of the staff here, they let me determine when I can come back."

Smith met with doctors Monday and said he still believes he is on schedule to play in the upcoming season. Exactly when that will happen is a question still awaiting an answer.

Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said Tuesday, just after the team wrapped up its final minicamp of the offseason, his goal is to get Smith in uniform for the team's preseason finale, Aug. 30 against Arizona.

"This is the time when he's going to start working out and making some strides in the next few weeks," Shanahan said. "But I want him to be healthy. I don't want to get him back too early - I think that's a mistake a lot of people make with this injury.

"I'd like to get him ready for the last preseason game, that's my goal, but I don't want to push him too hard, I want to make sure he's ready. Rod is smart enough to understand that this is a process that's going to take some time. His body will tell him what he can do."

For his part, Smith said, "the season starts in September" and the team's season opener in Buffalo is what's on his radar at this point. He currently is going through injury rehabilitation five days a week, a regimen that includes daily workouts in a pool.

He has not tried to run outside of pool workouts and said some recent swelling in the joint might have been a result of pushing too hard.

So Smith continues to try to find balance between trying to get back on the field and not trying so hard he can't get back on the field. And for the first time in his career, he said, he's discovering the virtue of patience.

"My leg got hurt from all the stuff I've done," Smith said. "All the positive things I've ever done in my career, that's what hurt my leg. The wear and tear of going out there on the football field, giving everything that I have. That's what hurt it.

"I can't be upset with that. After 13 years, if you go out there and grind the way I've grinded . . . I'll take it, to be perfectly honest.

"But at the same time, I don't think it's over. It's just a matter of getting back into form, to where I'm not uncomfortable doing some of the things I could normally do. That's where I have to be patient. . . . The most patient I've ever had to be in my entire life is right now."

ETC.: Receiver Brandon Marshall was held out of most of Tuesday's workout after reinjuring his left thigh. He also missed a June minicamp with the injury. . . . Guard Ben Hamilton and linebacker Eddie Moore were excused for personal reasons. . . . The practice was the Broncos' last on-field workout as a team before training camp. They report July 29.

Being there

In 11 of 12 seasons since the start of the 1995 campaign, Broncos receiver Rod Smith has played in at least 15 games. He missed six games in 1996 because of a collarbone injury.

16-game seasons: 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006.

15-game seasons: 1999, 2001, 2003.

10-game season: 1996.

legwoldj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2359