DeVonta Smith weighs in on the hit that gave him a concussion originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
DeVonta Smith has cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol and spoke publicly on Friday for the first time since his concussion in New Orleans.
It was a scary scene at the Superdome on Sept. 22 when a hit from Saints DL Khristian Boyd left Smith concussed in the fourth quarter.
Does Smith think the hit was dirty?
“Nah, I don’t feel like it was dirty or nothing,” Smith said on Friday. “He didn’t hit me in the head or nothing like that. More so, I feel like the whistle should have been blown.”
Boyd was fined $4,665 by the NFL for the late hit (unnecessary roughness) after not being penalized on the field.
Typically, a hit on a defenseless receiver brings a fine of $16,883 but a first-offense fine can’t total more than 10% of a player’s salary cap hit for the week. That’s why Boyd’s fine was so minimal.
Smith, 25, had a bigger problem with the referee not blowing the play dead when his forward progress was clearly halted. Sometimes there might be a fine line with players wanting to extend plays and not having it blown dead but this wasn’t one of those instances.
“I can’t extend the play if I’m moving backwards,” Smith said.
While the scene in New Orleans was scary for his teammates, Smith said it wasn’t scary to him because he didn’t really know what was going on. He was obviously a little out of it after the hit.
“I remember everything up until I went to the locker room,” Smith said.
Smith appreciated that his teammate A.J. Brown — who missed that game with a hamstring injury — visited him in the blue medical tent and walked back to the locker room to check on him.
In three games this season before the injury, Smith has 21 catches on 28 targets for 239 yards and a touchdown.
Smith, the 2021 first-round pick out of Alabama, has been very durable during his NFL career. He has missed just two games total in his four years in the league.
The Eagles were without Smith, Brown and All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson in their Week 4 loss to the Buccaneers before the bye week. All of those players will be back on the field Sunday against the Browns.
“Feels good just to get back out here around the guys,” Smith said. “Two weeks away from them. So just good to get back around the guys and just get back to playing football.”
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