Panthers QB Jake Delhomme understands Steve Smith's frustration. (AP Photo)

   CHARLOTTE – Make no doubt about it, wide receiver Steve Smith is still frustrated with his lack of involvement in the team’s offense, but he isn’t about to add any fuel to the fire.
   “I want to win, but I also want to be involved in a win,” was about as far as Smith would go when addressing the media following Wednesday’s practice.
   Smith, who said after the game he felt like he was no longer an asset to the team, didn’t exactly back down from that stance three days later.

   He wouldn’t blame his remarks on being in the heat of the moment, saying, “I felt what I felt. I think there is nobody that can say, ‘How could feel that way,’ if that’s how an individual feels. Am I going to apologize or go back on what I said? No. That’s at the moment and that’s how I felt.” 

   Smith said he spoke to members of the coaching staff and quarterback Jake Delhomme earlier this week, and added that he didn’t feel like he was being disrespectful to any individual coach or player by saying he wasn’t an asset to the team.
   Delhomme shrugged off Smith’s comments, realizing he’s blowing off some steam because he’s not been a big part of the offense through five games. Smith ranks tied for 49th in the NFL in receptions (21) and had just one catch for 4 yards in Carolina’s 28-21 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
   Delhomme said he “understands” Smith’s frustrations with the team’s lack of a passing game because he feels them, too.
   “You’ve got to understand, we all know him,” Delhomme said of Smith. “This is a competitive guy, who has a drive and a fire like no other. I’m sure he was frustrated. I get frustrated too because I’m trying to get him the ball. I know what he can do with it in his hands. I can understand that, and he knows that.”
   But Delhomme believes Smith is taking the right approach this week and not sulking.
   He said Smith turned up his tempo in practice Wednesday to “a different level.”
   “It was something out there today,” Delhomme said. “He’s channeling that energy, that fire, or whatever it is, to get things better. Because we all need to get better in the passing game.”
   Muhsin Muhammad offered a receiver’s perspective on the situation.
   “As a receiver that is what we do -- we get paid to catch balls and catch touchdowns and paid to make plays on the field,” Muhammad said. “So for us to want to do those things is probably a positive. You want guys who want the ball. That’s my thought.
   “However, if you’re winning games and coach wants you to do certain things then you go with the game plan. That is what being a team is all about. You put the selfish wants aside and you do what is best for the team. That doesn’t stop the desire to contribute.”
   As for how he’d correct things, Smith said he didn’t have enough time to discuss that and that he “doesn’t think it would be fair for me to play offensive coordinator.”
   When asked what’s the reason for the Panthers struggles in the passing game (they rank 29th overall), Smith replied, “I’m not exactly sure. We could probably sit here and break it down but it wouldn’t be accurate if I did it.
   “I’m only seeing it from a receiver’s perspective, which is half the field. I think everyone in the passing game would say they would like it to be better probably. I wouldn’t believe anybody in the passing game, me or Moose or Jake, would say, ‘It’s pretty darn good.’ I think you always need improvement.”
   The bad news for Smith is this Sunday the Panthers host the Buffalo Bills, who happen to have the worst run defense in the league allowing a whopping 181.8 yards per game on the ground.
   This past week, Thomas Jones of the New York Jets ran for 210 yards against them, although the Bills still won in overtime. So it’d be crazy for the Panthers not to pound away at the Bills with DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart.
   But Delhomme, for one, thinks that might be the best thing in the long run for Smith and the passing game.
   To get Smith more involved, Delhomme said, “We have to run the football and run it effectively. Last week helped. Even on that last drive, there were two guys on him and when they played one high safety he was standing outside the hash until the snap. That’s why we were able to keep running it and keep running it, and able to go down the field and do it.
   “When you run it like that, that’s when you get one-on-one opportunities, and that’s when we have to make something happen off that.”
   Although Smith wants to move ahead and talk about Buffalo rather than Tampa Bay, there’s still a sense that he’s bothered by the way things are going even after talking with members of the coaching staff.
   When told that coach John Fox said he still considers Smith and asset, Smith said coolly, “If that’s what coach Fox said, then that’s what coach Fox said.”