ASHBURN, Va. Alex Smith, the quarterback of the Washington football team, decided a long time ago that he wants to push hard during his recovery to see where it can take him. That took him back to the starting lineup. Now he has to make one more decision: does he want to keep playing?
Smith said he has not yet reached any conclusions about his future, saying he will take a few weeks to clear his head and talk about his future with his wife, Elizabeth.
“I had so much fun this year to be back in the locker room and on the field playing a game I love and losing yourself in it is one of the biggest feelings in the world,” Smith said. “My wife went through a lot, my family went through a lot, but it’s for a different time and place.”
Smith was unable to play in Washington’s 31-23 playoff game against Tampa Bay on Saturday night due to a strained right calf muscle suffered on December 13. After that, Smith played in one game. He repeated on Sunday what he regularly said: His calf injury is not related to his broken fibula and tibia in 2018.
“This is not the way you want to finish a season,” Smith said. “Even being in this situation is something I would have presented to myself a year ago, two years ago.”
This is because few people thought a year ago that Smith would make it again, let alone six games like the season. He said he let Washington coach Ron Rivera know he could play if needed. But Smith also said his calf limited him in the second half of the win in Philadelphia over Week 17.
Rivera said the abolition of the quarterback position would be an out-of-season preference. He said he would meet with Mr Dan Snyder to set out his future vision, and then they would meet on Monday as staff to discuss the evaluation process.
But when Smith’s future was mentioned, Rivera would simply say that they would assess the situation. Rivera, however, expressed admiration for Smith trying to recover from his calf injury, which according to Smith was more than just a calf injury, although he did not expand.
“He’s one of the most unselfish players I’ve ever had,” Rivera said.
Smith’s return from his 2018 injury has been questioned almost every step of the way, even by people in the organization, because they knew his story – 17 surgeries; almost amputation of his right leg – and they watch his ESPN documentary, “Project 11.”
Smith had to push Rivera this summer to be part of the 53-man and not the injured reserve. He was inactive for the first four games and then became the backup when Dwayne Haskins was put on the bench and Kyle Allen was the frontrunner. Smith became the starter after Allen broke his ankle.
Smith eventually started six games, and Washington won five of them. His stats were not good: Smith placed a total QBR of 34.7 in a league where the average was 66.4; he throws six times after eight interceptions. But players praised his leadership and how he kept them calm on the field.
“There’s an intangible issue that some guys own and own, and Alex has it,” Rivera said. “Can it be replaced? You’ll have to find a guy who has the same kind of intangible and those guys are special. They just come around every now and then. Alex has that kind of intangible stuff. he played and of course what he went through. ‘
When asked if it would complicate a decision to continue from Smith, Rivera said, “I do not know. It’s something we need to look at and talk about, that’s for sure.”
If Smith still wants to play, but Washington cuts him, it will save $ 13.8 million on the salary cap. Smith has two more years left on his contract and he will count $ 24.4 million on the salary cap if he stays with Washington.
The franchise traded Smith with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2018. Since his arrival, Washington has gone 11-5 with him as an appetizer and 6-26 with anyone else.
He described missing Saturday’s game as ‘very difficult’.
‘Frustrating in the sense that I felt so good, felt that I had come so far through the Pittsburgh game [on Dec. 7] to falter a little and fight through it, “he said. ‘It’s frustrating not to keep your end of the bargain.’
But if his last game was the win in Week 17, Smith sounded good with it.
“It was more about the effort and the journey than the outcome,” he said. ‘If I were too short to come back, I would have slept well at night knowing I was trying. I’m grateful I’m here now. ‘
Smith’s love of play did not wane; but he and Washington have to decide at what level he can still play.
“The feeling it gives you, when you’re out of there, you can not find it anywhere,” he said. “You can not duplicate it. You get away with it and you miss it quickly.”