Detroit Lions running back Kevin Smith could see playing time in Sunday's home opener against the Philadelphia Eagles, but he said his left knee might not be back to full strength this season.
"My knee is not exactly 100 percent but I don't think it will be until next off-season," Smith wrote on his Web site. "That's not to say I will be limited on the field. I just mean that it doesn't feel like it did before the injury yet. It's still stiff when I wake up, that kind of thing. The knee just doesn't quite feel the same way it did all the time."
Smith was declared inactive for the team's season opener at Chicago. The Lions haven't officially announced Smith's status for the Eagles game, but coach Jim Schwartz has hope. "There's a chance," he told *The Detroit News*.
Smith is returning from major offseason surgery on his left knee. He tore his anterior cruciate ligament during a game against the Baltimore Ravens last December.
"He's had a great rehab and his knee is strong," Schwartz told The Newsearlier this month. "He hasn't had any unexpected problems as far as being sore or anything like that. He just needs to be -- I don't want to say at full speed -- but he just needs to be back and when he is, he will be right back in there."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
