Finally Able To Showcase Speed, Eagles Second-Year Player Opening Eyes

It was like a bolt of lightning on a perfect summer night. One, because it was totally unexpected, but that’s usually the way long punt returns are.  Two, because of the player who flashed.

It was Ainias Smith who tilted the game in the Eagles’ favor, setting up a late touchdown in the first half with a 46-yard punt return in the final minute of the first half. It allowed the Eagles to score a pair of touchdowns in a span of 58 seconds to take a 10-point lead into halftime of what would become a 34-27 win over the Cincinnati Bengals last Thursday night.

This was the Smith the Eagles thought they were getting last year when they drafted him in the fifth round out of Texas A&M.

“Kudos to him,” said special team coordinator Michael Clay. “He's worked really hard in terms of his feet being a little bit faster to the catch point right there, and he's taking it seriously. …So, a lot of the credit goes to him of kind of taking on that role, what could I do better from year one to year two in terms of my return skills, and that's just him doing the little fundamental things right, racing to the spot first, being able to tuck it and catch it first, then get vertical, then I could get to the outside.”

Smith didn’t get to be the player the Eagles had hoped they were getting in part because of an injury that limited him during the spring and continued into training camp. Clay also said that Smith works after practice with punter Braden Mann shagging punts.