Here's some other items from the interview with Steve Smith.

   Smith addressed why he didn't speak with the media on Wednesday, the first day of open locker room this week.

   "I just got here; I'm trying to feel my way through," Smith said Thursday, "Anybody wants me to explain and tell how I feel to be back -- I'm happy to be back, but I've still got a lot of catching up to do in the playbook, as far as making sure I know what I'm doing, my opponent, and just getting back in the flow of things with Jake (Delhomme), Muhsin (Muhammad), Hack (D.J. Hackett), D-wayne (Dwayne Jarrett) -- with all the guys that are in here.  It's a lot to bear on the first day. 

"Making sure that I'm at peace or that I need to let people know what's going on -- my first priority is in here and my job and then everything else.  I will allow that to present itself at the appropriate time, like today."

As of the Lucas fight, Smith said: "I can't really say exactly everything that I have felt and thought. I know I'm not a victim, as people may think.  I know I'm not giving them lip service.   I'm not just saying stuff just to get people off my back.  I'm telling you how I feel.  Sometimes, obviously, when you do something wrong, you don't want to constantly keep talking about it and going over and over, whether it happened two weeks ago or a month ago -- you just kind of want to say, ‘Hey, I made a mistake; I had to pay a price.'"