The Ravens lost their best cornerback when Lardarius Webb suffered a season-ending knee injury four games ago. Now, Baltimore will be without the player who replaced him in the starting lineup.

Jimmy Smith had successful groin surgery in Philadelphia on Thursday, the team announced. He is obviously out for Sunday night's game against the Steelers and is expected to be back before the end of the season.

The Ravens didn't have Smith last Sunday and went with Cary Williams and Corey Graham, a special-teams standout, as their starting cornerbacks. Anticipating Smith would be out for an extended period, Baltimore signed former Raiders cornerback Chris Johnson this week. In five seasons in Oakland, Johnson started 29 games and had eight interceptions.

This is another setback for Smith, who hasn't lived up to expectations after being a first-round pick in the 2011 draft. Injuries and inconsistent play have limited Smith to five starts and two interceptions.