Although he's still expected to miss a few weeks with a right shoulder injury, the Carolina Panthers seem confident now that wide receiver Steve Smith isn't in danger of missing any regular season time after Monday's hard fall. "I'm sure he'll be ready at some point in the preseason," coach John Fox said. "Whether we play him or not, I don't know that yet. ..."He's day to day. He's not week-to-week or out for the season or anything like that." Smith suffered what Fox described as a "shoulder bruise" when he went down hard in the end zone during one-on-one drills. He was hit on the right shoulder by cornerback Chris Gamble prior to the fall, but said it was the contact with the ground that shook him up. "It was when I hit that immovable object, the ground," Smith said. "I felt it immediately. The good thing is, I thought it was broke, because it started hurting immediately. But it is not, so we'll be playing it by ear with Ryan (Vermillion, the head athletic trainer). The training staff is doing a good job with icing it to death and doing all the stuff that's necessary." Source: The Herald
