Tag: Ito Smith

WATCH: Cowboys’ Ito Smith is 21st Cowboy to score in 2021

The Cowboys tied the NFL record with 21 players scoring during the 2021 season, Ito Smith giving Dallas 44 points in Philadelphia.

If quarterback Dak Prescott’s five touchdowns weren’t enough, the first drive with him on the sideline needed 2:28 to go 52 yards and score a touchdown. This time, it was running back Ito Smith with a rush to tie the NFL record with 21 players scoring a touchdown, the first team to do it since the 2007 Patriots.

Dallas has all but sealed the win over Philadelphia in dominant fashion on the road and the Cowboys will move to 6-0 against the NFC East heading into the playoffs.

Cowboys RB Tony Pollard misses practice with foot injury, Elliott’s knee ‘progressing’

Tony Pollard was a DNP after a foot injury kept him limited to rehab work; Ezekiel Elliott says his knee is “progressing” and plans to play. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Cowboys fans have gotten accustomed to seeing lead running back Ezekiel Elliott hobble around as he tries to play through a knee injury that has bothered him for two months. The hope was that the team’s mini-bye would provide him ample time to rest up before the all-important final five-game stretch of the season that will decide the division.

Elliott was indeed a full participant in the team’s Wednesday work session, but it was change-of-pace back Tony Pollard who was off to the side rehabbing with trainers and showing up as a DNP on the day’s practice report.

Pollard is said to have a foot injury, though Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News reports in a tweet that “there doesn’t appear to be any long-term concern” about the issue heading into Sunday’s clash with rival Washington. “He’s fine,” Gehlken’s source told him.

Head coach Mike McCarthy praised the third-year Memphis product for his performance this season.

“Consistency,” McCarthy summarized for reporters in a conference call Wednesday. “I think Tony has definitely established a running style, a play style that he’s extremely consistent with. His vertical-cut run style has been extremely productive, both on offense and in special teams. But I’d say probably the biggest thing I see from Tony from last year to this year is just that he’s playing with unbelievable confidence. He’s obviously very comfortable schematically with what we’re asking him to do. He’s playing with tremendous confidence.”

But an apparently-new foot injury for the explosive Pollard, coupled with an already-gimpy Elliott, casts a bit more light on the team’s decision to sign veteran rusher Ito Smith to the practice squad Wednesday.

Elliott, however, who has maintained that his knee injury has not been a significant issue beyond “soreness,” says he’s more than ready to go- and stay in- versus Washington.

“They’re going to have to drag me off the field,” Elliott said in a press conference after practice.

Elliott had an MRI after last week’s game at the Saints to check the status of his knee. The test brought good news.

“It just showed that it’s progressing and it’s getting better,” Elliott said. “Playing on it is not going to make it worse.”

The injury had previously been called “a bone bruise,” though that now seems to not be the case. Elliott himself had compared the in-game flare-ups he was experiencing to stubbing a toe and having to loosen it up. That’s something that may be more difficult to do this weekend, with gametime temperatures in the D.C. area expected to be in the 40s.

“Yeah, it’s a little harder to warm up outside. But [at] the outdoor games, you get the heated benches, so it’s a little warmer on the sidelines,” he said. “Maybe at the beginning, it’ll be a little stiff, but once the game goes on, I’ll be able to put a little heat on it.”

Elliott has totaled 765 rushing yards on the season, but has not topped 100 in a game since Week 5. Pollard has 602 yards, is averaging 5.6 yards per carry, and has logged the Cowboys’ two longest plays of the season over the past two games. Depth rusher Corey Clement has nine carries for 20 yards in 2021.

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Cowboys sign former Falcons RB Ito Smith to practice squad

Ito Smith was drafted in 2018’s fourth round by Dan Quinn’s Falcons; he’ll add depth in Dallas, where Ezekiel Elliott is less than 100%. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Cowboys continue to say they have to get their running game going. They maintain that two-time rushing champ Ezekiel Elliott can battle through the knee injury that has bothered him for over two months. They keep hinting that Tony Pollard will get more touches.

And they just brought in someone who could be seen as something of an insurance policy.

The team has signed veteran running back Ito Smith to the practice squad. Smith was a fourth-round draft pick in 2018 by the Falcons, whose head coach at the time was Dan Quinn, now defensive coordinator of the Cowboys. In 35 games with Atlanta, Smith amassed 689 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 175 carries. He also added 55 receptions for 314 yards.

The 5-foot-9, 195-pound Southern Mississippi product was waived by the team in April; he’s had week-long stints this season with Arizona and Minnesota.

Whether Smith’s addition has any bearing on Elliott’s status or Pollard’s usage remains to be seen. The Cowboys still have Corey Clement on the active roster, and Hard Knocks favorite JaQuan Hardy already on the practice squad.

But a veteran like Smith may give Dallas some options- or at least some measure of peace of mind- as they enter a critical five-game stretch that will decide the division.

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Vikings waive three players after preseason finale

The Vikings waived three players on Saturday.

Minnesota has to get its roster to 53 players by Aug. 31.

Now that the preseason is over, the Vikings have made several roster decisions to help the team eventually get there.

Minnesota waived C Cohl Cabral, DT Zeandae Johnson and RB Ito Smith.

Cabral had a chance to be a platoon linemen for the team. However, Mason Cole and Wyatt Davis both have the ability to play center, so depth at that position wasn’t necessary.

Smith was signed last week and had to try to make the cut in a crowded running back room. Running backs Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison are locks to make the team. Running back Kene Nwangwu would have been a very surprising cut, on account of him being a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft. Also, undrafted free agent running back A.J. Rose shined in the preseason this year.

Johnson had to compete with a defensive line corps that was filled with depth as well. He was a long shot to make the team after all the free agency additions this offseason.

Vikings make several roster moves

In addition to signing Everson Griffen, the Vikings made some other roster moves official as well.

On a day where the Vikings officially signed Everson Griffen, the team made a plethora of other roster moves as well.

Minnesota signed running back Ito Smith, who is coming off a stint with the Falcons. Smith averaged 4.3 yards per carry with Atlanta in 2020.

The Vikings waived QB Danny Etling and LB Christian Elliss. Additionally, the team waived DT Jordon Scott with an injury designation. Scott was coming off a game where he intercepted a tipped pass.

Minnesota trimmed its roster down more when it put DE Janarius Robinson on IR. It also officially placed LB Cameron Smith on the Reserve/Retired list.

With those moves coming to fruition, the Vikings have 80 players on their roster now. They needed to get down to 80 by Tuesday, anyway. Now, the only cutdown date where the Vikings will be forced to make more moves is Aug. 31, which is when they have to whittle the roster down to 53 players.

Cardinals sign RB Ito Smith after his Friday workout

Smith spent the first three years of his career with the Atlanta Falcons after being drafted in the fourth round in 2018.

The Arizona Cardinals made a change to their running back room on Saturday and made some roster moves. After he had a workout on Friday with the team, running back Ito Smith signed a one-year deal to join the Cardinals.

He replaces Khalfani Muhammad, whom the Cardinals released on Saturday.

The Cardinals also released undrafted rookie cornerback Lorenzo Burns, who was recently activated off the COVID list. The release leaves a vacant roster spot for the Cardinals to use.

Smith spent the first three seasons of his career with the Atlanta Falcons, who drafted him in the fourth round in 2018.

The 5-9, 195-pound back rushed for 689 yards and six touchdowns on 175 carries and also had 55 receptions for 314 yards in those three seasons.

He will have a tough road to make the team. With Chase Edmonds and James Conner set to be the top two backs, Smith will have to beat out Jonathan Ward or Eno Benjamin, both of whom have impressed coaches so far in training camp.

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WATCH: Ex-Falcons’ Ito Smith fulfilled promise to grandmother by learning to swim

He made good on a promise.

This content comes from our friends at Sportskind.

Ito Smith is 25 years old, a professional football player, and learning how to swim for the first time with kids aged from 7 to 12 years old. 

Watch Ito get in the pool wearing floaties, goggles, and a big smile in the player above. 

The former Atlanta Falcons running back checked his pride at the door and was honest about his swimming skills. 

Children’s Hospital of Atlanta held a swimming clinic with Ito and kids from the community at the metro Atlanta YMCA. 

Ito says he promised his grandmother years ago that if she quit smoking, he would learn how to swim. 

She made good on that promise, now it’s his turn. 

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Falcons release running back Ito Smith

The Falcons have released running back Ito Smith, a fourth-round pick by the team in 2018.

The Atlanta Falcons continue to tweak to their 2021 roster. On Thursday, the team signed wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson and safety Duron Harmon to one-year contracts. A few hours later, the Falcons released running back Ito Smith, a fourth-round pick by the team in 2018.

Smith, 25, was drafted out of Southern Miss and served as a backup mostly during his three seasons in Atlanta. He played in 35 games, rushing 175 times for 689 yards and six touchdowns, while adding 55 catches for 314 receiving yards.

While Smith did have some good games down the stretch in 2020, the Falcons already brought in free-agent RB Mike Davis and are expected to address the position in the upcoming NFL draft.

Releasing Smith is expected to clear a little over $1 million in salary cap space.

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PFF lists the Falcons’ three biggest needs for 2021

The Atlanta Falcons have plenty of work to do this offseason, and several needs to fill on both sides of the ball. Pro Football Focus’ Ian Hartitz broke down each team’s three biggest needs.

The Atlanta Falcons have plenty of work to do this offseason, and several needs to fill on both sides of the ball. Pro Football Focus’ Ian Hartitz broke down each team’s three biggest needs.

Let’s check out the three he identified for the Falcons.

EDGE

The lack of a quality edge rusher has been the Achilles heel of this Atlanta defense for quite some time. The Falcons attempted to address this very need in the first round in 2015 and 2017 by drafting Vic Beasley and Takk Mckinley. Both players have since departed from the team. Hartitz pointed out the disastrous Dante Fowler signing.

“High-priced 2020 free agency addition Dante Fowler finished his first season with the Falcon as PFF’s eighth-lowest-graded edge among 124 qualified players. Generating pressure has been a problem for a while now, as the Falcons were a below-average unit in 2020 (19th in pressure rate), 2019 (24th), 2018 (24th) and 2017 (No. 16) alike.”

The Falcons could look to free agency due to there not being a standout option in this year’s draft. However, in order to get a game wrecker on that side of the ball, the Falcons would be expected to pay a hefty price, something they could be very hesitant to do after how underwhelming the Fowler signing turned out.

Defensive secondary

The Falcons finished the 2020 NFL season with the worst ranked pass defense. You would think this unit has nowhere to go but up, but there’s a chance the secondary could be much worse in 2021 if not addressed. As Hartitz points out, Atlanta isn’t spending much money at the cornerback spot.

“The Falcons are one of nine teams with fewer than $20 million 2021 dollars devoted to their safety and cornerback rooms. Only the Lions allowed more total completions of 15-plus yards; talent is needed anywhere and everywhere in this back end.”

Strong safety Keanu Neal will become a free agent on March 17 and Ricardo Allen will likely be let go in order to clear cap space. The departure of both players would leave second-year safety Jaylinn Hawkins as the team’s lone safety.

There is a pathway to clear space and bring in a quality safety like John Johnson or Justin Simmons. Even so, the Falcons could still use their third-round selection to bring in someone like UCF safety Richie Grant.

Running back

With both Brian Hill and Todd Gurley becoming free agents, the Falcons will be left with just Ito Smith on the active roster. The team still has Qadree Ollison on hand but to assume he would have any role after last season is a bit of a stretch. Hartitz points out the many options this year’s draft provides at the running back position.

“Both Todd Gurley and Brian Hill are free agents. Only the Packers, Steelers, Bills and Jets have fewer 2021 dollars devoted to the position. The likes of Travis Etienne (No. 39 on PFF’s top-200 draft big board), Javonte Williams (No. 58), Najee Harris (No. 69), Michael Carter (No. 74) and Kenneth Gainwell (No. 79) could be potential draft-day targets.”

The free agency pool is deep at the running back position as well. Atlanta could go after a veteran like Mark Ingram or Carlos Hyde, or someone looking to return to a lead back role like Marlon Mack or James Conner.

The Falcons could also use their mid-round draft selections to go after potential stars in Michael Carter, Javonte Williams, or Trey Sermon.

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Raheem Morris names Ito Smith the starting RB over Todd Gurley

Falcons head coach Raheem Morris finally acknowledged what anyone who watches the team has already known for weeks.

Falcons head coach Raheem Morris finally acknowledged what anyone who watches the team has already known for weeks. Ito Smith, not Todd Gurley, is Atlanta’s starting running back.

Despite Gurley’s impressive resume, his effectiveness this season no longer warrants the starting job. The former Georgia star has nine touchdowns but just 60 total rushing yards over his previous four games.

Per Falcons beat reporter Kelsey Conway, Morris has named Smith the team’s lead back, while saying Gurley’s role has changed.

During Week 15, Gurley was given just one carry, which resulted in a one-yard loss. Over the last eight games, Gurley has averaged less than 3.5 yards per carry, and under three yards per attempt in six of those eight games.

Meanwhile, Smith has been Atlanta’s lead back, even if the team hasn’t wanted to admit it. After rarely being used over the first half of 2020, Smith has led the team in rushing yards and attempts for the past four games.

Smith has been more effective, but he hasn’t fixed the Falcons’ ground attack by any means. This season, he’s rushed for 213 yards on 4.3 yards per carry. Smith will have the final two games of the year to audition for a bigger role in 2021.

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