Mayhew has a Beat Writers Meeting… Culpepper Might Be Here Next Year?! Stanton as Well… Kevin Smith to Undergo Shoulder Surgery In Addition to Knee Surgery

Kevin Smith Posted on his blog, Smith34.com about his injury on Jan 2nd:

"I tore my ACL in the fourth quarter of the Ravens game. I had 80 yards at halftime and for the most part thought I was having a pretty good game. It’s crazy that in a blink of a second, you’re down and it’s over for you.When it happened it was the worst thing I ever felt. The pain was literally breathtaking. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. No one touched me, it was a non-contact injury, but I knew when I fell that I messed something up in my knee. I didn’t know what I did exactly but I knew it was something serious, because I’ve played through a lot of injuries and I had never felt anything like that.It was heartbreaking. It took me about 24 hours to get my mind back together, and now I’m in good spirits and just anxious to get through my rehab and come back stronger than ever. In my third year I want to get back into the race in my running back draft class, with Chris Johnson, Rashard Mendenhall, Matt Forte, Tim Hightower, Ray Rice, Jonathan Stewart, Darren McFadden, Steve Slaton and Felix Jones. Down the road they’re going to be talking about this draft class of running backs as one of the best, and I want to be part of that conversation.But right now I just have to focus on myself, getting back together, and I have all off-season to do it. I recover pretty quickly. Sometimes I’m like a medical miracle. I keep my faith in God and I know he’s going to see me through if I keep up my spirit and my faith.As far as my rehab goes, I’m tuning everybody out when they tell me how long it’s going to take before I can come back full strength. I’m going to talk to some players who have had torn ACLs and take their advice, like Daunte Culpepper, my old college roommate Mike Sims-Walker, and Frank Gore. As far as recovery time, I don’t want to hear it from anyone. I won’t put a timetable on myself. When I’m ready, I’ll be back.I walk with crutches now, and I get in trouble with my trainers for trying to walk without them. During rehab I take off the brace and I can walk with a limp. I think I’m doing pretty good for where I’m at right now. I think I’m a little ahead of schedule.This season did not go as well as we had hoped. I didn’t come in and play as well as I had anticipated, and as a team we definitely did not make the strides I thought we would make. But football is a year-to-year thing. You have to roll with the punches. The season was what it was. Right now I’m just focused on myself and getting back to football as soon as I can."

I like Kevin Smith. He is just… so focused on the game. Confident. A little too confident.

Kevin… Take a deep breath and listen to the staff. TAKE YOUR TIME. Don’t come back too soon and destroy your career by reinjuring yourself. I dropped a line to my contact on his blog… I want to know if Kevin has anything to say about his upcoming shoulder surgery. I want to see him healthy, this is a brutal sport, a rough and hard hitting league, I want him back at a 100% so he doesn’t get hurt again. I’d rather him back halfway through next season refreshed and healthy then rush himself into camp and get hurt in the preseason.

So that’s that.

Mayhew also said that he isn’t ruling out an offensive player at the second overall pick…

better be an offensive tackle… Russel Okung anyone?

I wanted the Tackle last year… we got the QB. And it worked out very well I’d say, surprising and unexpected yet completely delightful. So now, protect the multi-million dollar investment we made last year and need to continue to develop.