When The Washington Football Team QB Alex Smith severely injured his right leg in 2018 and then had a life-threatening infection after surgery to repair the leg, many thought his career was over. However, Smith defied all the odds. After almost two seasons rehabbing the injury, he made his return in Week 5 when Washington’s Kyle Allen injured his arm. Ultimately, Smith took over the job on a full-time basis when Allen dislocated his ankle a few weeks later.
Before injuring his right calf against the 49ers in Week 9, the 36-year-old Smith was 4-1 as a starter and had Washington on top of the NFC East. Now, Smith is looking to work his way back from that calf injury to start on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field against the Eagles. It’s simple, if Washington(6-9) wins, they are NFC East champions. At this point, Smith is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game. If Smith can’t go, Taylor Heinicke will start for Washington. Heinicke replaced the recently waived Dwayne Haskins last week in the team’s 20-13 loss to Carolina.
Eagles head coach Doug Pederson, who spent three seasons as an offensive coordinator in Kansas City with Smith, has a lot of respect for the 16-year veteran.
“I’ll tell you something, I really have a lot of respect for Alex Smith, for him and his family,” Pederson said. “Again, the way he has come back from this adversity in his career with the injury and putting him in a position to play this season and potentially start this game Sunday night. My hat goes off to him.
“It doesn’t surprise me that he’s been in this position because our time in Kansas City for three years, just watching him work, the work ethic that he has for himself, number one, to be the best player that he can be, but also within the team, how he can elevate and make things run smoothly with his offenses.
“But he’s a guy that really knows how to run the system. He’s not going to put the ball in harm’s way. He takes care of the football. He utilizes everybody on offense, quite frankly. That’s been one of his strengths. That’s why his win percentage is so good.
“But I think the key is just that he takes care of the football, number one. He’s done that his whole career. I would say there’s probably been a lot of things said and piled up upon him over his career that he can’t do this, he can’t do that. But bottom line, he’s a proven winner in this league at quarterback, and that is what you are measured by, and I have a lot of respect for him.”
Smith is a winner in the NFL. He’s led a team to the playoffs five times. He knows what it takes to get his teams to the postseason, so if he can play, we’ll see if Smith can work his magic on Sunday against the Eagles.
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