Washington Football Team quarterback Alex Smith has taken a large step towards returning back to the football field nearly two years after suffering a career-threatening leg injury. Smith has been cleared by his doctors to return to full football activity, according to ESPN’s Stephania Bell.
Smith spoke to ESPN while the network filmed an update to his E:60 documentary, Project 11, which initially aired in May.
“Everyone was in agreement that my bone was in a really good place,” Smith told ESPN. “I had healed a lot. They said that given the combination of the rod and where I was with the healing process, I had zero limitations and could even resume some football activities.
“To hear them say that from a life standpoint, they wouldn’t restrict me from doing anything — I could go skiing or snowboarding tomorrow if I wanted — then on top of that, to get the green light that I could practice, get contact, that I had healed up, that much was pretty wild to hear. I didn’t know if I would ever hear those words.”
According to Bell, Smith spent the past few months in Hawaii with his family, training and preparing for next season. In his return to Washington, he met with the impressive team that rebuilt his broken leg.
Smith is now in the process undergoing COVID-19 testing with expectations of reporting to training camp Monday. There, he will be evaluated by Washington’s team doctors to determine the next steps towards his participation in training camp.
The news is amazing considering all Smith faced since suffering a compound and spiral fracture, breaking his tibia and fibula, on a sack during a November 2018 game against Houston. He underwent 17 surgeries and nearly had his injured leg amputated after developing a series of post-op bacterial infections.
Smith has been determined to return to football despite all he has endured. Now his leg is strong enough to be cleared to return to full football activity after nearly two years of rehabbing and training
Smith is under contract through 2022. However, Washington has a potential out following the 2020 season, after covering $71 million in guaranteed money.
Over 600 days have passed since Smith went down. A lot has changed in Washington, starting with the team’s name. The regime responsible for bringing in Smith via trade from Kansas City is now departed from the organization, including then-head coach Jay Gruden. Last year, Washington drafted Smith’s presumed replacement, Dwayne Haskins.
Haskins’ development has seemingly been a focal point of the team, even with new head coach Ron Rivera. It will be interesting to see how that will be affected by the potential addition of Smith at training camp.
