No.3 draft pick Smith, 19, suffered the season-ending knee injury - which the Blues had initially believed wasn't serious - in Saturday's scratch match against St Kilda, with scan results on Sunday stunning Carlton officials.
"Yeah, obviously felt for him. It's not the call you want on a Sunday," Cripps said on Monday.
"When you're an 18-year-old kid that's worked so hard and you're so close to debuting, I feel for him.
"I had a good chat with him yesterday, but it's probably one of those moments where you've just got to absorb how you feel, not try and suppress it, take it all in.
"But there'll come a time when he'll get surgery and get back to work.
"That's the special thing about footy clubs, there's a lot of people in your corner that are going to help build you back up, and there's a lot of guys at the club that have had similar injuries that will be able to help and guide him.
"I suppose the thing for him, it's obviously huge for him at the moment, but he's going to play a lot of footy for this footy club.
"It'll be a small speed bump in his journey, his career. But he's going to be a special player for us for a long time."
Melbourne superstar Christian Petracca and Brisbane young gun Will Ashcroft recovered from early-career ACL tears, while Carlton veteran Sam Docherty has overcome three knee reconstructions.
Cripps hadn't yet spoken to teammates about Smith's injury.
"I was obviously flat for him, but also flat for us," Cripps said.
The skipper noted Smith could come back from the setback a better athlete.
The Blues moved swiftly to replace Smith on Monday, signing VFL-listed small forward Will White, 20, after the AFL extended the pre-season supplemental signing period (SSP).
Melbourne used the opportunity to sign former West Coast midfielder Jai Culley, 22, as a replacement for defender Andy Moniz-Wakefield, who also tore his ACL on Saturday.
Both clubs confirmed their respective signings before the AFL announced the extension of the SSP window.
Cripps was unfazed regarding spearhead Charlie Curnow, who could miss the start of the home-and-away roster after pre-season knee surgery.
"I'm not sure if he'll be there round one," Cripps said.
"He's in pretty good spirits at the moment, so if it's not round one it'll be round two or three, so we'll get him back pretty early.
"But I'm really confident he'll have a big year, and he's one guy that doesn't need a lot of training or that to perform. He's a bit of a freak."
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