Two years ago, Telvin Smith said if he had been under the NFL’s concussion protocol like he was for the past two weeks, he would have been pressing to play at every chance.

But Smith acknowledged on Wednesday that he agreed with the decision to sit out this past Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks after he was not cleared under the procedure, despite practicing fully for two days last week.

"Competitive-wise it was tough, but longevity-wise it was easy," Smith said. "I chose not to play and I think that was the biggest thing as a collective mindset. We thought it would be best that I sit."

On Wednesday, Smith was cleared and removed from the team’s injury report.

He is expected to start on Sunday in the Jaguars’ regular-season home finale against the Houston Texans.

Smith was in the concussion protocol since Nov. 26 when he was injured during the second quarter against the Arizona Cardinals and was forced to miss the entire second half.

The NFL continues to make a stronger push to strive for a healthier game, especially after Boston University researchers conducted a study this past July on the brains of 111 former NFL players and found evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in 110 samples.

"Personally, I want to live a long time and I want to play this game a long time," Smith said.

Before Smith was ruled out during the game against Arizona, he was evaluated and cleared to return to play just before halftime.

However, he complained of concussion symptoms at the half and was re-examined before he was diagnosed with a concussion and held out.

According to the NFL, the return-to-play process consists of five stages that includes a requirement for a concussed player to be examined and monitored in the training room on a daily basis and be put through an graduated exercise challenge, followed by a gradual return to practice.

A player may be considered for return to practice and play only after he has returned to baseline status with rest and exertion. Also, repeated neuropsychological testing has to be performed and the player must be cleared by an independent neurological consultant and the team’s physician.

"It is a very detailed procedure and they are just making sure you are back to normal," said offensive tackle Josh Wells, who missed the Dec. 3 game against the Colts after he was diagnosed with a concussion. He was later cleared and played last week against Seattle.

Despite the missed time, Smith still leads the Jaguars with 83 tackles, to go along with three interceptions, one sack and two fumble recoveries.

In his absence, rookie Blair Brown started at weak-side the past two games and combined to make four tackles.

"When you lose a player like Telvin, it’s tough,’’ Coach Doug Marrone said. "He’s one of your best players on defense. You are talking about a captain, you know there’s a lot of things go into that. Not only when you losing him to the injury that he had, he’s not even around. So that plays into it.’’

Smith said when he was out, he never lost confidence that his defensive teammates would continue to play at a high level. Cornerbacks A.J. Bouye and Jalen Ramsey combined for three interceptions against the Seahawks and Russell Wilson was sacked twice.

The Jaguars rank first in passing defense (174.2 yards) and second in total defense (291.6).

"A lot of people say they missed me, but those guys, they more than handled themselves out on the field," Smith said. "They continue to show why we are the best defense in the country.

"I think if this had been two years ago, I would have been more pressed thinking that we didn’t have enough to stop those guys.But I think we had more than enough to stop Russell as you could see."