Eagles Notes: Receiver Smith put on injured reserve

Steve Smith, just one of the Eagles' disappointing free agent signings, was placed on injured reserve on Monday after a magnetic resonance image revealed a bone bruise on his left knee.

It is the same knee that required microfracture knee surgery last December and made the former New York Giants wide receiver available during training camp when the Eagles inked Smith to a $2.3 million contract.

The Giants didn't believe Smith would be ready by the season opener, so the Eagles swooped in and signed the one-time Pro Bowler. The signing came before Jeremy Maclin was cleared of having lymphoma, so adding Smith may have been a cautionary move.

Even so, he wasn't expected to contribute much coming off surgery and with Maclin, DeSean Jackson and Jason Avant ahead of him on the depth chart. Even so, he produced very little when he did play.

In fact, Smith's more memorable moments were when he did something wrong, like when he had a pass bounce off his hands and to Giants cornerback Aaron Ross or when he inexplicably fell short of the first-down marker against the Cardinals.

Some believed that signing Smith and paying him four times what Jackson was making was an unwise personnel move by the Eagles. In all, Smith played in nine games, caught 11 passes for 124 yards and scored one touchdown for the Eagles.

His season, and likely his tenure with the Eagles, is over.

"He's a tough kid that's been battling like crazy and given us good downs," Eagles coach Andy Reid said on his WYSP-FM 94.1 radio show.

The Eagles signed defensive tackle Cedric Thornton off the practice squad to take Smith's place on the roster. Thornton, an undrafted rookie free agent, originally made the 53-man roster before the season started, but he was briefly cut, only to be added to the practice squad.

An MRI revealed a fractured rib for defensive end Darryl Tapp

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The injury occurred in the fourth quarter after defensive end Phillip Hunt sacked Dolphins quarterback J.P. Losman for a safety. Tapp slipped in the end zone, and Miami tackle Nate Garner fell on him.

Tapp told reporters after the game that he thought Garner's hit was dirty.

"I don't think it was an accident," Reid said Monday.

The Eagles suffered a few more notable injuries in the game. Tackle Todd Herremans sprained his ankle, defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins strained his groin, and running back Ronnie Brown strained his hand.

Reid said that Herremans' and Jenkins' injuries will be monitored this week and that their availability for Sunday's game against the New York Jets was undetermined. Tapp could be out for a while.

Maclin left early after his injured hamstring acted up. Reid said that Maclin was "feeling OK today." His status for Sunday remains unclear.

  Former Eagles fullback Leonard Weaver was spotted at the NovaCare Complex. . . . Tight end Brent Celek has already eclipsed last season's totals in receptions (42) and receiving yards (511) with 49 catches for 517 yards.