Alex Smith Cleared for In-team Activities, After Life-Threatening injury

Alex Smith, Washington quarterback, is participating in team activities, after suffering an injury that required 17 surgeries.

Back in July, Doctors working on Smith cleared him from rehab and the NFL put him on the PUP list. At the beginning of August, Smith had worked out for four consecutive days. After seeing this, the coaching staff decided to give Smith the go-ahead to start participating in football activities, with Washington.

“If Alex is healthy and continues to get healthy and we do activate him, he’s going to be in the throes of this competition,” Washington head coach, Ron Rivera, told CBS News yesterday.

“It’s going to unfold very nicely as a football team for us because the competition is only going to make you better. It’s going to push the young guys as well.” Rivera added. Rivera believes Smith’s return will make the spot for the team’s other quarterbacks, like Dwayne Haskins, more competitive. Which, in turn, will make the quarterbacks, try harder.

Alex Smith’s road to recovery

Smith suffered a leg injury on November 18, 2018, in Washington’s game against the Houston Texans, on week 11. The injury was reported to be a serious leg fracture and considered one of the worst in the sport. That was just the beginning for Smith, however. After the first operations, he found himself not only fighting for his career but also fighting for his life.

A flesh-eating bacteria had infected his leg after his first operation. The infection required 16 different surgeries, just to get it under control. Doctors even considered amputating Smith’s leg, to save his life.

“The next thing I remember is waking up several weeks later faced with the decision of amputation or limb salvage at that point,” Smith said in an interview in February, adding that he was lucky that he made it out alive.

Smith spent the next 13 months in rehab, having to wear an external fixator. The device helped Smith stabilize himself as his bones recovered.

“There’s enough there that I can go out there and play,” said Smith. “Knowing that, yeah, failure is a possibility … I need to prove that I can come back and play quarterback in the NFL.”

Rivera did not comment if Smith will be starting or playing the first week of the NFL 2020 regular season.

The Washington football team will play their first game against The Philadelphia Eagles, September 13 at 1:00 pm.

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