Nolan Smith stood in the locker room with his backpack strapped firmly in place on his shoulders. If one was ailing, it didn’t show. In fact, Smith said his shoulder was fine.
It was a scary moment when he left Thursday night’s preseason game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns game after he and Kelee Ringo sniffed out a jet sweep to speedy Anthony Schwartz for a five-yard loss. Smith went directly into the blue medical tent for several minutes and then into the locker room for a more thorough examination during the second quarter.
“I’m fine,” he said. “It was just precautionary.”
On the same day, it was learned that Eagles pass rusher Haason Reddick would need thumb surgery, though the team is confident he will be back in time for the season opener on Sept. 10 in New England, it appeared they had lost another edge rusher in Smith.
Smith was fortunate, though.
Some teammates, perhaps not so much. The rookie edge rusher was one of six players hurt during the 18-18 tie on Thursday night.
“We play a violent, a violent and physical game,” Smith said. “I tell people it may be fun and games to somebody else but it’s somebody else’s livelihood. This is my life. This is what I do, this is what I love to do at that.
“Even though mine wasn’t as severe as the other guys, your heart goes out to them because we work six weeks for this, and the countless days that you don’t see that’s not training camp and all the workouts to get in shape to go to training camp. My heart goes out to those guys. They put in so much work.”
Carts were required to remove cornerback Zech McPhearson (ankle), receiver Tyrie Cleveland (neck), and defensive tackle Moro Ojomo (neck).
The Eagles announced that Cleveland and Ojomo had movement in all their extremities.
“I haven’t talked to the doctors yet, but it sounds like they’re moving around,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “I don’t know anything else other than that.”
The Eagles also lost backup center Josh Andrews (ankle) and receiver Olamide Zaccheaus (shoulder). Zaccheaus was seen in the locker room after the game and appeared to be fine without any wrap or sling on either shoulder.
The Eagles did not offer any further updates on any of the players as of early Friday morning.
“You never want to see (injuries)," Sirianni said. “Your heart goes out to everybody who gets hurt in a game because they’re working so hard to make the football team, so that’s tough.
"That’s tough for the team, that’s tough for myself, that’s tough for the coaches because you care about these guys and you want to see them succeed, then to have injuries that’s tough.
“A lot of guys played a lot of plays, it was a long game with a lot of plays. We’ll hope they’re not too long-term and hopefully they get back and better.”
Ed Kracz covers the Philadelphia Eagles for SI's EaglesToday.
Please follow him and our Eagles coverage on Twitter at @kracze.
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