Fred Smoot walked gingerly into Redskins Park on Monday morning.

The eighth-year cornerback admitted to some soreness after playing through a groin injury in the Redskins’ 14-11 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

It’s not the first time that Smoot has displayed a gutsy effort by playing through pain.

In 2003, during his first stint with the Redskins, Smoot played several games despite a painful bruised sternum. In 2004, he played through a shoulder injury.

Smoot is certainly one of the most talkative of Redskins, but he may also be one of the toughest.

His ability to play through pain has established him as a team leader.

“You just have to do it,” he said. “It’s mind over matter. Coach [Greg] Blache always says, ‘Your body will come when it does what your mind tells it to do.’ I just kept on playing and it worked out for me.”

Smoot suffered the injury in the Rams game on Oct. 12. He missed practice time and was listed as questionable heading into the Browns game.

There was some consideration to having Smoot sit out the game.

That went out the window when Shawn Springs aggravated a calf injury in practice.

With Springs deactivated, Smoot knew he needed to step up as the starter opposite Carlos Rogers.

Together, they helped solidify the Redskins’ secondary against the Browns.

The defense was only able to record one sack on quarterback Derek Anderson, so it was often up to the secondary to provide solid coverage on receivers downfield.

Anderson struggled in the passing game, completing 14-of-37 passes for just 136 yards.

Smoot had three tackles in the game. He mostly covered speedster Donte Stallworth, limiting him to just two catches for 24 yards.

“We just played Redskins defense,” Smoot said. “Everybody stuck to their assignments and that made us successful. We just grinded it out and kept going.”