Wednesday, February 16, 2000Smith cleared to throw
Toe injury fully healed
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati EnquirerBengals quarterback Akili Smith started the decade on the right foot Tuesday when he was cleared to begin practicing after an exam revealed his right big toe has responded to treatment.
“It looks great and should be a non-issue for this season,” Bengals trainer Paul Sparling said.
Smith has the green light to start throwing toward his lofty goals: leading the Bengals to an above-.500 season for the first time in nine years and turning Cincinnati into the NFL's best team of the new decade after it was the league's worst team of the last decade.
“When everybody is getting ready to step over to grass (at the new stadium), they have to understand it's a whole new attitude,” Smith said after starting his offseason regimen at Spinney Field.
“It's a new millennium, and we've got to start off trying to be the best team of the decade.”
Sparling said Smith's toe has improved markedly since the season ended six weeks ago and Smith can do any activity. He has played light catch at home in San Diego, but now he can drop back at full speed, plant his back foot and cut loose throwing, although Sparling said Smith's return will be gradual.
For now, Smith will spend an hour in the weight room and do individual drills to strengthen his foot. The bulk of his days — from 10a.m. to noon — are to be spent in offensive coordinator Ken Anderson's office reviewing his every snap during a rookie season cut short with the toe injury in his fourth start.
When the weather breaks and the April 28 mini-camp nears, most of Smith's receivers plan to join him at Spinney.
“I finally get in some camps,” said a smiling Smith, who because of NCAA rules and a 27-practice holdout, missed the majority of last year's offseason workouts.
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