Rams' Xavier Smith: Career-best effort in Carolina

Smith caught all three of his targets for 82 yards in Sunday's 31-28 loss to the Panthers.

The second-year wideout missed last week's game due to a concussion, but he returned to action with a bang, setting career highs in catches and yardage while leading the Rams in receiving yards. Most of the real estate was gained on a 51-yard connection with Matthew Stafford that helped set up a Blake Corum TD right before halftime. Smith's biggest impact this season prior to Sunday had come as a kick returner -- he has 274 kickoff-return yards and 142 punt-return yards through his first 10 games -- but he's making a case to move past Jordan Whittington into the No. 3 spot on the WR depth chart heading into a Week 14 tilt against the Cardinals.