Inside Eagles Rookie's Roster Run: 'There's No Excuses'

Ainias Smith started slowly but has recently shown glimpses of his playmaking ability.

Aug 24, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Ainias Smith (82) is tackled by Minnesota Vikings linebacker Jordan Kunaszyk (45) during the fourth quarter at Lincoln Financial Field. / Caean Couto-USA TODAY Sports

PHILADELPHIA - Ainias Smith arrived in Philadelphia eager to translate the success he had as a playmaker at Texas A&M to one of the NFL’s most prolific offenses.

The 5-foot-9, 176-pound Texas native was also projected as a tailor-made fit for one of the few needs Philadelphia had on the offensive side: slot receiver.

Real life got in the way in the form of a stress fracture in Smith’s shin uncovered at the NFL Scouting Combine, an injury that took him out of the Day 2 conversation for most NFL teams and into Day 3 of the draft where the Eagles decided the cost-benefit analysis was worth it at No. 152 overall in the fifth round,

Smith was the first of a trio of fifth-round picks for Philadelphia, taken three slots ahead of where Philadelphia selected legacy linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. at 155 and 20 spots north of Michigan offensive guard Trevor Keegan who the Eagles chose at No. 172.

As the initial cut to 53 approaches Trotter and Keegan are resting easy understanding their immediate futures are in Philadelphia. Smith, meanwhile is seen as a bubble player after a poor spring bled into the summer.

Smith arrived in Philadelphia while still in rehab mode after surgery and was pushing to get back on the field, eager to prove the Eagles right for taking a chance on him.

When finally cleared pushing became pressing for Smith and he started dropping the football, something that was never much of a problem at the college level.

Smith has been a different player in the final days of training camp. The drops have dried up and he’s become reliable.

In Saturday’s final preseason loss to Minnesota, Smith was targeted nearly twice as much as any other Eagles’ receiver and snared a team-high six receptions for 36 yards.

Most of Smith’s chances were manufactured touches but two things stood out: no drops and a growing confidence of quarterbacks Kenny Pickett and Tanner McKee to give the rookie wideout opportunities.

Smith also got to show a little of the juice he has on a punt return that went 14 yards after the Vikings’ Ryan Wright outkicked his coverage a bit.

Speaking to Smith after the Vikings’ game was a stark contrast to Baltimore after Week 1 of the preseason where the rookie seemed a bit overwhelmed like things were spiraling away from him.

“I feel like throughout the whole entire spring and summer, I really wasn't getting any reps and I was down because of my injury,” Smith admitted to Philadelphia Eagles on SI. “... Once I started to get them real reps, then I feel like I was pressing a little bit. But then the game started to slow down for me a little bit.”

Smith refuses to use the injury an an excuse for his his slow start, though.

“I mean, I was definitely working to get ahead throughout the whole summer, throughout the whole spring,” he said. “When I was down here at OTAs with the training staff, throughout the whole summer, I was working hard, trying to go ahead and get back right. And it was a quick turnaround but I'm not able to use that as an excuse.

“There's no excuses. I need to go ahead and be ready. So at the end of the day, it is what it is.”

Considering that Nick SIrianni’s top messaging this summer has been accountability, Smith’s refusal to use the obvious crutches available to him will go a long way at the NovaCare Complex where the team’s personnel department was very high on his playmaking ability coming out.

“There are steps to when you get into the NFL. It’s a different game,” Sirianni said when asked by Eagles on SI about Smith’s late summer run. “So sometimes people start fast and sometimes it takes a little bit of time.

“Ainias has done some really good things. He has some things he has to learn from. But he’s growing like the rest of the guys because he’s working his butt off. He made some nice plays today that were good, but like everybody, we all have work to do to continue to get better.”

We will know in 48 hours is Smith has done enough to make the Eagles remember why they drafted him in the first place.

“[It’s] definitely a different transition,” Smith said of the move from the SEC to the NFL. “I feel like it's different for any rookie that goes through this process, going from being the man at Texas A&M and being somebody that's just as good as everybody else. 

“I’m saying everybody in the league is great, and now you starting at the bottom again, trying to work your way back to the top.”

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