Jimmy Smith of Baltimore Ravens to miss rest of season
Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Sunday that cornerback Jimmy Smith with miss the rest of the season with a torn Achilles tendon.
Smith tore the tendon, which had been bothering him at times for the past two months, during Sunday's 44-20 win over the Detroit Lions.
"It looks like Jimmy's got a torn Achilles," Harbaugh told reporters after the game. "So that's tough. It looks like he'll be out for the rest of the year."
Smith has 26 tackles and three interceptions this season. Harbaugh said Sunday that he believes the 29-year-old has played "at an All-Pro level this year."
That success has come despite a nagging soreness in the tendon since early October.
Smith said last month that he couldn't remember exactly when in October he first injured his Achilles, but that he was able to play through the injury.
"It's more of a pain tolerance," Smith said, according to ESPN. "How long can you withstand the pain running around on it? It's not like an achievement playing through it."
Harbaugh said Sunday that Smith's soreness did not necessarily make him more prone to an Achilles tear, citing conversations with doctors.
"The doctors will tell you that you just can't predict that," Harbaugh said. "Just doing this for all of these years, I've seen them not tear and I've seen them tear. Obviously that's what you kind of suspect, but that's not what the doctors tell us. That's why guys continue to play."
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.
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