As Ainias Smith reflects on the journey to his first NFL regular-season game last Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, he considers his injury-plagued final months “the fire.”

It started in the spring. Smith, the Eagles’ fifth-round pick out of Texas A&M, did not participate in organized team activities while recovering from a stress fracture in his shin. The 5-foot-9, 176-pound receiver had a rough start to camp as fought with the drops. As the preseason began, he sprained his surgically repaired ankle against the New England Patriots, an injury he said he further aggravated in the preseason finale against the Minnesota Vikings.

The injury landed Smith on injured reserve for the first eight weeks of the season. Despite the challenges that characterized his first months as an Eagle, Smith emphasized that his difficult situation improved his mental toughness.

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“God had to throw me into the fire to show me that I can endure anything if I put my trust and faith in him,” Smith said Wednesday. “And I feel like that’s what I had to go through.”

With football off the table for nearly a month and a half, Smith devoted his energy to his fundamentals. He focused on the details of running, from properly pushing off the ground to using the proper stride length. He did calisthenics, a form of bodyweight strength training, in an effort to correct imbalances in his legs that had arisen due to injury. He worked to improve his hands, especially when catching the ball.

By the third or fourth week of his stint on injured reserve, Smith said he started to feel like himself again in his movements. The limp with which he arrived on the team back in the spring was a distant topic.

“Just being able to feel that confidence knowing that you can drive that leg and that you can do certain things that you want to do, it definitely feels great,” Smith said.

Going into Week 8, Smith had a feeling he was going to be activated in time for the game against the Bengals, but he wasn’t entirely sure. He received his answer when he arrived at the NovaCare Complex last Wednesday. Smith saw his No. 82 jersey called for a few plays in the game plan, indicating he would be making his regular-season debut.

“That was crazy,” Smith said. “So to go all week knowing I was going to be in the game plan just a little bit, and then go out and get the reps with those was crazy.”

Smith took eight offensive snaps against the Bengals in the Eagles’ 37-17 victory, serving as the pre-snap motion man on each of those plays. Although he never touched the ball, Smith pulled out every synonym for “excited” in the thesaurus to describe his emotions surrounding his first game, from “crazy” to “blessed.” His teammates, who accompanied him throughout his journey, were equally happy for him.

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“I’m very proud of Ainias,” AJ Brown said Thursday. “I’m going to give you your flowers. He definitely had some growing pains when he first got here. But I’m happy for him, man. He’s been doing a great job. That time he was away, he really stayed locked up. You could tell he really loved it. And that’s hard for a young man to just stay locked up, not being able to really practice. But he was trying to do everything he could. They had to tell him: ‘Slow down.’

“He’s been doing a great job and I hope he touches the ball at some point and makes the most of it. “We are happy for him.”

Smith touted the support of his teammates throughout this process, emphasizing that they never turned their backs on him when he was injured and continued to treat him like their brother. Now, he hopes to build on last week’s performance as he continues to figure out his role at the NFL level.

“Honestly, I just keep doing what I have to do for the team to win, you know what I’m saying?” Smith said. “To help the team win, whether it’s getting the ball on special teams, whether it’s getting the ball on quick sweeps, passing routes, running the ball, it doesn’t matter, you know what I’m saying?

“I just think the next step for me is to get on the field a little bit more.”

Injury report

Dallas Goedert (hamstring) and Darius Slay (groin) sat out practice for the second straight day. Otherwise, the team’s health continues to improve. Mekhi Becton cleared concussion protocol and participated fully in Thursday’s practice.

Jalen Carter (shoulder) and Landon Dickerson (knee) returned to practice Thursday after sitting out Wednesday. Carter was listed on the injury report as a full participant, while Dickerson was limited. Albert Okwuegbunam (abdomen; injured reserve) continues to practice at full capacity as he moves into the final week of his 21-day practice window.