Steve Smith rejoined the Carolina Panthers on Monday after serving a two-game suspension, and yesterday he was back on the practice field for the first time.

There was little question that the Panthers were glad to have him back as they started preparations for Sunday's game at Minnesota.

And they were eager to say so.

"It was nice having him out there," quarterback Jake Delhomme said. "He does have a presence. I don't think there was any doubt. He showed he was the same old Steve. It's only been two weeks we haven't seen him. So it was a nice addition for us."

Smith, the Panthers' Pro Bowl receiver, wasn't as eager to talk about his return.

He did not make himself available during the 45-minute media-availability period after practice.

His only comments came in the form of a blog, "Goin Deep With Steve Smith," that he wrote on the www.athletesforyouth.org Web site.

They appeared on the Web site before practice, but after he had met with his teammates on Monday for film sessions. Tuesday was a day off for everyone.

"It was fun to get back to work," Smith wrote. "It was just outstanding getting back into the locker room. It was a warm reception. The guys were happy to see me. I won't say it was surprising, but it was different. I saw guys like Chris Harris, Jon Beason, Rhyne (sic) Robinson, Jason Baker, John Kasay, Jeff King, Dante Rosario, the overnight sensation, which I find amusing because Dante's been working his tail off for 12 or 13 months now. But the guys were giving me high fives, saying, ‘Glad to see you back. Now we can go ahead and continuously get better.' Just all positive stuff."

Smith, who was suspended after breaking teammate Ken Lucas' nose with a punch during training camp, had some other interesting comments on his blog.

He acknowledged that were still skeptics who wondered about his ability to keep his composure in the future. He pointed out that he did keep his composure last season in the Panthers' win at Atlanta, when cornerback DeAngelo Hall received two personal-foul penalties during exchanges between the two.

He also raised the issue of his one-game suspension in 2002 for an altercation with another teammate, Anthony Bright. Bright suffered a broken nose in that altercation.

"I know some people wonder will I have another incident," Smith wrote. "I've had many altercations when I've had an argument with someone or someone has taken a shot at me, like the Atlanta game last year, and I've taken the high road. Will I be able to do that again? That's a question I know the answer to. What I've been through the past two weeks, I really don't feel like going through again."

"Yes, I made a mistake in November of 2002. I will say for the first time that somebody did take a swing at me then, for all the people who want to say that I pummeled a teammate six years ago. But right now, I'm here to play football. All the what if questions, I'm really leaving that to the what if people."

"I'm in a good place. I'm stress free and I'm not worried about the non-important people, the people who want to downgrade, demean, the people who try to kick me when I'm down. I want to be around people who are encouraging and see the truth and good in everybody. I want to be that way as well."

"I've had time to sit back and reflect. I've just been kind of listening and reading and for the most part, it's been very entertaining. The people in the media do a very good job of making sure they keep giving the description of what my suspension was for and why I did it and how they hope I can keep my anger under wraps. I find it interesting how eager the media is to do that. Yes it's the truth, but it's interesting. It gets under my skin, but that's part of the gig."

"Controversy and negativity sells. The great stuff and good stuff goes on the back pages. So I think I'm going to get away from doing too many interviews. I was approached by someone in the media who thought it would be a great story to watch the Chicago game with me so people can truly see who the real Steve Smith is. He said it would be a great story and would help revamp my image. I don't really care what some somebody is going to write or not write to try to revamp my image. People are going to look at me and perceive me the way they want to no matter what I do. I will not be the guy who says, ‘Well, I'm going to do this interview because I want to get this.' That's not me and won't ever be me. My job is to play football."