If you expected that wide receiver DeVonta Smith would be any different heading into this 2026 campaign than he's been in his prior offseasons, you haven't taken time to know DeVonta Smith.
In a seven-minute question-and-answer session with the Philadelphia media on Tuesday, Smith made many things crystal clear ..
1. His reaction to the trade of wide receiver A.J. Brown? "Business is business," he said. "I don't have any say in that."
2. On his feelings of being a "bonafide No. 1 wide receiver," as he was asked by a reporter: "I think that when you have a room like the one we have," he said, "it brings the best out in everybody else. Everybody wants to compete. Everybody wants to be the best. We're all there to help each other. But ultimately, we're all there to compete for the position … at the end of the day, it's all love. I'm just going out there and doing my job, regardless of whether you want to look at it as one, two, three, four."
3. Asked about his mindset, and if anything is different for 2026, Smith was on point. "No, I'm going to do the same things I've been doing."
This is the NFL and those in the business understand that every season brings a new challenge. Smith spoke fondly of his relationship with Brown and how they played off each other and the great times they had together, but this is 2026 and the Eagles have a new offense under coordinator Sean Mannion and that is the focus.
The only focus.
"I think it's going good. We're all still trying to learn, we're still installing, but I think it's going good," Smith said. "It's all a matter of time before we go out there and have everything in. Right now, we're just fine-tuning it and everybody trying to get a hold of everything."
How things will change for the passing game, of course, remains to be seen. "It's different," Smith said, but wanted to wait until the team is on the field and the action is live to full evaluate.
Where does Smith, who has been outstanding in his five seasons with the Eagles, go from here? How much more is there to improve? He is durable, he is productive, and he delivers in every situation. But for Smith, the drive is constant.
"You just want to be better every year," he said. "That's what I'm focusing on – learning the offense, doing what I can do to help us win football games and improving every day, and helping the guys in the room."
It is a room that has some change, for sure. Smith is the longest-standing Eagles wide receiver – he was the team's first-round draft pick in 2020 – and his leadership is apparent every day in the way he approaches his job and his attention to detail in every way.
THAT is the focus. THAT is what matters. Players coming and going, it's all part of the business and we should all know by now that Smith is all business and all football business, no matter the media labels.
"We want to marry up the offense – the run game and the pass game – and I think that's what is important here," Smith said. "I'm here to do my job. We're all here to do that. That's what your mindset should be every day."
