Smitty set to play vs Bengals

[jtnc]

CHARLOTTE - The clock is ticking toward the start of the regular season, and wide receiver Steve Smith understands that time is of the essence.

That's why Smith stuck around to catch some extra passes from quarterback Cam Newton after practice Monday, and that's why Smith is anxious to make his preseason debut Thursday when the Panthers visit the Cincinnati Bengals.

"It will be fun," Smith said. "Today was probably our best practice. We were going on all cylinders.

"When Thursday comes around, hopefully we'll be able to display that on a lot of plays."

The Panthers didn't display much in their last preseason game, a 20-10 loss at the Miami Dolphins on Friday. They were better in a victory over the New York Giants by the same score six days earlier, but they hope to be even better with Smith back in the lineup after missing both games with a finger injury.

"It was a learning opportunity for the young guys and for myself. It's just something we've got to work through," Smith said of the showing against Miami. "Success doesn't all come just at once. You've got to have a little failure and learn from it."

Smith's learning curve in the new offense took a detour on Aug. 9, when he cut the webbing between two fingers on a catch in practice, forcing him to miss nearly a week of practices at training camp. From the initial looks of it, it could have been worse.

http://www.panthers.com/news/article-2/Smith-set-to-play/9110b2b6-cf35-4fd7-86db-535c8379cd1c

Let's see if Newton and Smitty can connect vs the Bengals. :D

[TheRealDeal]

If we don't dominate the Bengals, I'm going to be a sad panda

[TruCatzFan]

Knew that the minute they named Cam as starter.

[Spot on Dtan]

Smitty= HOFer if any of your 3 QBs pan out.

Yeah, he's that good.

[jtnc]

Smitty seems happier on the sidelines to me, talking to Olsen and Shockey.

[TheRealDeal]

He's happy because he hasn't been overthrown or underthrown yet...

Smitty is and always has been about gettin his and winning.

If those things go wrong, he's not a happy panda

[GritsRgreat]

Smith has been outstanding but he does get a little moody, we'll see how it goes..

[rayzor]

i'm really anxious to see how things look.

right or wrong, smith is going to play a lot harder with newton throwing to him than he did with moore/clausen last year and jake the year before. if he feels good about you, he's going to put in that extra effort to make things happen.

[TheRealDeal]

Hahah yeah he hated averaging a TD a start with Moore and being forced the ball with Jake.

He hated Clausen, no doubt.

The things you guys say to prop up Cam is pretty crazy

[Udogg]

No way he plays harder for Cam than he did for Jake.

[jtnc]

Hahah yeah he hated averaging a TD a start with Moore and being forced the ball with Jake.

He hated Clausen, no doubt.

The things you guys say to prop up Cam is pretty crazy

Yeah Smith cared so much about Moore that he didn't even keep in touch with him after his injury. You're so fuging oblivious to everything.

[mav1234]

personally I think the new offense is a bigger reason why Smith is going to try harder, but not having Clausen throw him passes could play a role... but I'm pretty sure Smitty and Jake liked each other and he certainly was on good terms with Moore.

[GritsRgreat]

I'm glad someone else admits key members of "team Panther" tanked it last season..

[Panths]

pie for your sig grits