CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Steve Smith brought his family to Knights Stadium Monday evening as he took the field for batting practice as part of a promotion for the minor league team.
Smith said personal reasons have kept him from attending any player-organized workouts.
"There're a lot of things on my plate with my wife and her health that my family needs me at home,” Smith said. “That's the most important thing and football right now is the last thing on my mind when it comes to some of the things in the last month we’ve been dealing with as a family."
Smith didn’t go into details about his wife Angie’s health, only saying “It’s been very difficult and very tough. That’s the responsibility as a husband and a father and that’s where it is and where it will always lie.”
As for his future with the team? Smith was tightlipped.
"When football gets going I'll be able to evaluate football at that time. But football is not going on," Smith said, referring to the lockout. "So all the what-ifs and speculation and how I feel is what everyone has -- an opinion. I choose to keep my opinion to myself and will continue to take that road."
Smith, who turned 32 last month, was limited to 46 catches for 554 yards and two touchdowns last season amid terrible quarterback play by the NFL's worst offense.
Smith's hesitancy to commit to Carolina has raised speculation he'd like to move to a contending team late in his career. Rivera last week indicated that trading Smith was "not a foregone conclusion," but the first-year coach acknowledged he was uncertain where Smith stood as he comes off his worst statistical season in a year in which he remained healthy.
"He did kind of leave me at a point where I was wondering exactly where did he want to go with this?" Rivera said of their talk before the lockout began. "I will wait until we sit down and talk when the time comes."
