The moment Alex Smith went down from a compound fracture in his leg, the sense was he would be in store for a long recovery ahead. Unfortunately, as details are learned following the injury the more troubling his recovery seems.
Earlier this week through multiple reports, it was revealed Smith battled an infection following his initial leg surgery to repair the broken tibia and fibula in his leg. It was also revealed through Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network that Smith had multiple surgeries and tissue removed to combat the infection. Now Garafolo revealed more horrifying details of the dire situation Smith is in, reporting that the Washington Redskins quarterback has had “close to half a dozen” surgeries on his injured leg.
From @gmfb earlier on #Redskins QB Alex Smith’s battling an infection in his leg and the complications that led doctors to remove the implants they initially inserted pic.twitter.com/vLbKmNQax1
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) December 8, 2018
“They are removing some infected tissue. That’s what they had to do when they go in there for the leg,” Garafolo said. “That’s why he’s had multiple surgeries, I’m told close to half a dozen surgeries. Also, they inserted the plate in his leg to bind the bone. It got infected and they had to take it out.”
That’s disheartening news for Smith. He has gone through a lot with having the injury and initial surgery to having multiple surgeries in the aftermath, including having the plate placed in his leg to mend his bones removed because it was infected.
The prognosis is grim and shows how severe the injury can be and the difficult the road to being just 100 percent for comfort can be for Smith let alone recovering to return to the football field.
With all that is being learned of his situation, it’s easy to see why the Redskins have asked for privacy on behalf of Smith.
