"Lions running back Kevin Smith could have had several reasons to be unhappy about his season. He missed the first three games recovering from knee surgery. He played in only six games before he went on injured reserve in mid-November with a thumb injury.

As a result, Smith registered career lows in rushing and receiving yardage and did not score a touchdown for the first time in his three seasons.

But Smith has chosen to view his time off the field as a positive.

"Me being on IR, I still know how to play football. I think I did," he said. "Unfortunately being hurt, (but) watching from the sideline I was able to see a lot of things. So just watching, I learned a lot about the game.""