Alex Smith is celebrating his 35th birthday today. Unfortunately, the Washington Redskins quarterback appears to be still wearing the external fixator attached to his broken right leg nearly six months after the initial injury.
Smith was spotted in the airport wearing the device. The photo was shared and ultimately reached famed sports doctor David J. Chao, MD. Chao speculated on Smith’s future medically and on the field.
If there is anyone that is suspicious about the image shared, 106.7 the Fan’s Sports Junkies shared an image of Smith wearing the device via one of their listeners.
As many know, Smith suffered a compound fracture after being sacked against the Houston Texas in November, breaking his fibula and tibia. He has since underwent a series of surgeries, including tissue removal due to a post-op infection. He was last spotted at a Wizards game in January wearing the device.
It’s unclear on what progress has been made and whether or not Smith will ever play again. Smith has four years and $94 million remaining on his contract. He will carry a cap hits of $20.4 million in 2019 and $21.4 million in 2020 (fully guaranteed for injury), according to Spotrac.
Meanwhile, the Redskins have moved forward, acquiring Case Keenum in a trade in March and drafting Dwayne Haskins in the first round of April’s NFL Draft.
Recently, team president Bruce Allen said Smith will be part of the Redskins program, when referencing mentoring Haskins.
“It’s a great situation for any quarterback we’re going to bring in and Dwayne is excited about it,” Allen said while appearing on NFL Network per Kevin Patra. “Our reigning NFL MVP, Patrick Mahomes, he learned at the hip of Alex Smith. And Alex is going to be part of our program — we still don’t know from the doctors if he’s going to play, and what time in the season, but he’s going to be a part of our program. And (Haskins) will be able to learn from Case Keenum, and Colt McCoy, and then our coaching staff is filled with former quarterbacks, and of course, we have the great Doug Williams in the building, so it’s going to be a great learning experience for (Haskins) and we want to make sure he has a great career.”
