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ASHBURN, Virginia – Washington soccer quarterback Alex Smith knows he has to overcome a major hurdle in his quest to come back from a horrific leg injury.
He needs to be touched.
“I thought more than I can possibly say,” Smith said. “It’s been in the back of my head throughout this process. I have to go out there and get hit; I have to know that obviously my leg is strong enough to take it.”
It’s unclear when Smith will actually be able to take a hit to his right leg. He broke his tibia and fibula in a November 2018 game against Houston, resulting in 17 surgeries, near death, near amputation and what many believed to be the end of his career.
But Washington disabled Smith from the physically unable to perform roster on Sunday, bringing him one step closer to an unlikely return. There are other steps he needs to take. He’s been involved in 7v7 jobs over the past two days.
“Today has been the best I have felt there,” Smith said.
Coach Ron Rivera said on Wednesday there was no timeline for when Smith would graduate to face nine defensemen in a drill and ultimately full teamwork. Washington wants to see how they handle a full team pass rush situation and how quickly they can react when they need to avoid trouble.
For Smith, it takes it a step further by trusting what happens if he gets hit. With no preseason games, Smith said he might need to fake a tackle in practice just to calm his mind.
But he said he was “determined not to let that fear dictate my decision-making. There’s no doubt it’s there but, for me, [it’s] choose to exceed it. “
Before we get there, there is more that Smith needs to show. For seven to seven, he looked like a mature quarterback. During the first two days of the camp, he was largely accurate; Rivera loves how her feet move in sync with her eyes – improving accuracy. Rivera called him a crafty veteran on Tuesday and it shows. On Wednesday, his three seven-on-seven shots in the red zone featured quick decision making and completed throws, mostly within 10 yards of the line. On Tuesday, he snapped a throw in the middle that caused him to pump his fist, the only time he showed any emotion.
But he doesn’t face a pass rush either. What remains the key.
“The most important thing for him will always be the footwork – the fast feet, the fast decision making, stuff like that,” Rivera said. “We have to get there and we have to see how it moves.”
Rivera said they would bring him back to work 11v11. But he wants him to face nine defenders at some point so they can fake a rushed pass for him – and he can know where the pressure is coming from. when rushers are unlocked – without the risk of getting hit.
“So we can watch his movements as he escapes,” Rivera said. “With him, everything is a process; everything is a step forward; it all depends on his foot speed, his speed, his decision making. He did a great job.
“We’re not trying to rush anyone through; that is why there is no timetable. We want to make sure that if he has to play, he can protect himself.
Rivera said he and Smith spoke on several occasions about what they wanted to see – primarily, how Smith protects himself.
“For me to sit there and say what his physical risks are – I’m not the doctor,” Rivera said. “We listened to what the doctor told us. You never want to endanger a player, and that’s what concerns me – that I don’t endanger him. I just want to make sure – – on the based on what I’ve seen, based on what I’ve heard – we can sit down and make the right decision whether or not to play. “
Smith also has a drop foot – the result of neurological or muscle damage – and his right foot can be difficult to lift and drag. Because of this, he said he will always have to wear an AFO splint to stabilize his foot. Whether this hinders its ability to escape into the pocket remains to be seen.
Dallas linebacker Jaylon Smith wore a corset due to a drop foot in the 2017 season, but retired it for the following year. Michael Porter, Jr., of the Denver Nuggets, has also developed a drop foot and wears a brace.
“It’s something that 10, 15 years ago was a death sentence for your career,” Smith said. “To have guys out there and play in an AFO, to see Jaylon Smith go there and do what he did as a young man, to go see what Michael Porter Jr. is doing with an AFO right now. . These guys are. It’s an inspiration to me, to see if I can go do it. I feel like I have a certain level to push this as far as I can for whoever comes after. “
Smith said he felt more comfortable with each day he was on the pitch. He also knows he’s come a long way just to get to this point. He admitted to having “why me” moments when he was in the hospital. He would wake up every morning, remember what had happened and then face his new reality.
“It still hits you every day, like, no, it’s really real,” he said, “and it’s not coming back; there is no going back; that’s what I pushed forward for the rest of my These emotions were those first few months, and it took a while to recover. It was part, of course, to be comfortable with what my life is, my new normal, and then move on. “
But it’s not like it’s a smooth journey.
“You build a lot of walls in your head as much as you can never do again,” he says. “And then eventually you get over that ridge, I guess, and start trying to bring those walls down slowly as they come in.” It took a very long time before I could even look at my leg.
And, now he’s back on NFL land in an attempt to earn a spot on the roster. He was satisfied with his progress, with his execution of transfers.
“The next progression is definitely on the unchoreographed stuff,” he said. “The moment the pouch breaks down and you’re pushed back. There’s a lot of different scenarios that come up. It’s hard to break through all of these things. Just come back to a point where it breaks down, do you have what ‘it takes to save the coin, find success, whatever the outcome, escape pocket things like that. “
If he can show it, then Smith can enter the quarterback competition. For now, it’s Dwayne Haskins who works with the starters.
“I played a quarterback for a long time behind the back of my head, you wonder if I can do it again, and he’s still sitting there,” Smith said. “And you get closer and closer to it, I think, you feel it even more; it would be like running a marathon and getting close to the end of the race. I think even more, that competitiveness comes into play; and i want to see if i can do it. “
But, he says, one step at a time. He doesn’t want to rush the process.
“It will turn out,” Smith said. “We’re filmed everyday, we watch tapes every day. It’s always obvious, I think, whether you can do it or not – to everyone. I don’t think it’s going to be any different for me.”
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