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A new age of communication is upon us. Steve Smith has discovered blogging.

The troubled wideout for the Carolina Panthers returned to practice Wednesday in front of an expected horde of media awaiting his post-practice assessment of his workout, his conditioning, his suspension and his return to a team that went undefeated without him.

Well, maybe not a horde. In fact, the turnout of reporters was below average. Fittingly, the returning star avoided talking on the record, leaving that to his teammates, all of whom were more than willing to talk about him.

They all expressed joy in seeing No. 89 on the field again, including cornerback Ken Lucas, who was pummeled by Smith during a training camp fight that left Lucas with a broken nose and Smith with a two-game suspension to start the season. Somewhere along the way, Smith began using a blog on his charity's Web site to get his side of the story out.

That's his prerogative, and no one is saying it's his responsibility to look into television cameras and say a word to anybody. Wednesday would've been a perfectly reasonable day to do just that, get it over with and move on. Instead, he walked off the practice field and into the locker room, and wasn't seen again by the media.

See, here's the thing. It's not like this story is going away. Smith was forced to sit out two games of the season, and he was on everyone's mind through most of the suspension. While he appeared to remain quiet, all along he was using the charity Web site of Athletes United for Youth to get his rather bizarre opinions out, take veiled shots at the media and make excuses for the incidents that landed him on the one-man suspended list by the Panthers.

And again, that's his prerogative. But when the blog makes news, it tends to get out. He made news in his first blog entry three days before the season began, using it to apologize to Lucas and family and friends and teammates. In his latest blog, Smith has forgiven himself. Somewhere along the way, he began referring to himself as "89."

"I've had time to sit back and reflect," he writes in the entry from Tuesday. "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 the media is to do that. Yes, it's the truth, but it's interesting."

Muhsin Muhammad was asked Wednesday if he'd read the blog, and the veteran wide receiver smiled wryly.

"I don't read blogs at all," he said.

Jake Delhomme was asked if he'd talked to Smith during the suspension. He said there were a few players over at Smith's house for Labor Day, and the two had exchanged text messages since.

"I texted him after the game in San Diego," Delhomme said. "I stayed in touch with him, and certainly I texted him last Sunday after the game."

The team sent messages to Smith through the media, and presumably they read his blog where he said he wouldn't deal with the media very much from now on. Nothing new there. He's been curtailing his interviews for a couple of years now.

Smith is an engaging interview, one of the few players who look you in the eye when he answers and tries to answer every question he's asked. If he thinks it's a stupid question, he says so. He makes news. He is the news after most games. His opinion matters to those who follow the Panthers.

He came back to practice Wednesday and caught a pass on the very first play.

"A deep slant," tackle Jordan Gross said.

We haven't really seen any of those so far this year, and judging from the comments of the players as they talked about the practice you could sense the team's energy went to another level as it prepared for a road trip to Minnesota this Sunday.

Would it have been nice to get Smith's take on it? Of course. Was it imperative? No. Besides, we have his blog to read every week now at athletesforyouth.org. It's engaging reading, if you're into that sort of thing. It's a rare look into the mind of a wide receiver. Make what you will of that.

Until he decides to start talking to the media again, and it could be as soon as today, we'll let him speak for himself. Or at least until the team puts an end to it. Carolina has its best player back now, and the players and coaches insist that all that other stuff is behind them and things are back to normal.

Of course, things are never really normal when it comes to "89."

Contact Ed Hardin at 373-7069 or ed.hardin@news-record.com