Smith cleared, nearly all way back
QB suffered severe leg injury in 2018
Washington Football Team quarterback Alex Smith has been cleared for football activity and activated off the physically unable to perform list, the team announced Sunday morning.
The move is the next positive step in Smith’s remarkable recovery from a leg injury that nearly cost him his life.
He is now allowed to participate in Washington’s padded practices Tuesday.
Smith, 36, sustained a compound fracture of his right tibia and fibula during a November 2018 game against the Houston Texans. The injury required 17 surgeries, many of them to
fight a life-threatening infection. Smith’s injury and recovery were featured in an ESPN documentary released earlier this year.
Smith’s wife took to social media to post a video of a family celebration on Saturday night, signifying the next step in his recovery.
“Hard work pays off! Lots to celebrate in the Smith house tonight,” Liz Smith wrote on Instagram.
The move earned praise for Smith, who started his career with the 49ers and has also played for the Chiefs, from around the league.
Former Washington quarterback Joe Theisman, who experienced the same injury in 1985, was pleased for Smith.
“He has gone through a lot more than I had to go through,” Joe Theismann said. “For me it was a question of the leg healing and then trying to do certain things required of the quarterback position. Alex came within 24 hours of losing his leg. I didn’t wind up with complications; he wound up with a tremendous amount of complications. It wasn’t just healing from a broken leg. The mountain he had to climb is so much greater.
“No matter what happens he’s already won the award for comeback player of the year.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid is thrilled to see that Smith isn’t done in the NFL.
“How great is that. I’m so happy for him. He’s dirty tough, and he loves playing the game. We all saw the special on him and the rehab he went through. I’m very, very happy for him,” Reid said.
Smith was Reid’s starting quarterback in Kansas City for five years, and they had a lot of success together, getting to the playoffs in four of those five seasons. Reid will be cheering for Smith to have more success going forward.
Smith told ESPN on July 24 that his surgeons had cleared him for full football activity. The team opened training camp with a cautious approach by placing Smith on the active/PUP list. Smith joins Dwayne Haskins and Kyle Allen as active quarterbacks for Washington.
Washington was 6-3 and in first place in the NFC East the day Smith got hurt. It is 4-19 since his injury.
Smith and Theisman spoke often during the quarterback’s recovery process.
“I was pulling for him from day one,” Theismann said. “In the beginning everyone said he’ll never play again. I never bought that.”
Haskins, who was the 15th overall pick of the 2019 draft, completed 119 of 203 passes for 1,365 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions in nine games (seven starts) last season.
Allen, who was acquired in a trade with Carolina, completed 303 of 489 passes for 3,322 yards with 17 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in 13 games (12 starts) in 2019.
Smith completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 2,180 yards with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions in 10 starts during his most recent season in 2018.
The 49ers drafted Smith with the No. 1 overall pick in 2005, and he played seven seasons in San Francisco and five with the Kansas City Chiefs before joining Washington in 2018. For his career, he is 94-66-1 as a starter with a 62.4 percent completion rate, 34,068 passing yards, 193 touchdown passes and 101 interceptions.
The 36-year-old Smith is signed through 2022.
A physical exam last month showed the leg was medically recovered from the gruesome injury, but he was placed on the PUP list then because he wasn’t yet fully cleared for contact or full football activity.
Smith threw for 2,180 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions in 10 games with Washington after being acquired from the Kansas City Chiefs in a trade.