After suffering a compound fracture in his left leg that required more than 15 surgeries between 2018 and now, Washington Football quarterback Alex Smith has been fully cleared for football, sources close to the team said Saturday.
The team confirmed the move Sunday in an announcement on Twitter.
Smith's recovery is nothing short of remarkable.
He broke his leg in late November 2018 and suffered multiple infections during his recovery. For many the expectation was Smith would never play again, but over the course of nearly 20 months since his injury, his recovery has been incredible. The Project 11 documentary from ESPN showed how bad his leg was and how far Smith has worked in his recovery, but still, to actually be cleared for football seems incredible.
On Saturday, Smith's wife Elizabeth posted this to Instagram:
Washington Football coach Ron Rivera has been steadfast that once Smith gets cleared to play, he will compete for the starting job.
"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," Rivera said last week. "It's going to unfold very nicely as a football team for us because competition is only going to make you better. It's going to push the young guys as well."
RELATED: RIVERA SAYS HASKINS WOULD HAVE STARTED FIRST PRESEASON GAME FOR WFT
It's been presumed by many that 2019 first-round pick Dwayne Haskins would take over as the Washington franchise QB this fall. That might still be the safe bet, but it would be either naive or simply silly to continue to count out Smith at this point.
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Source: Washington QB Alex Smith cleared for football and will be activated from PUP list originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
