Alex Smith likely won the league’s comeback player of he year award in Week 5 when he initially stepped on the field this season. But the Washington Football Team quarterback has done far more than merely get back on the field.
Smith set career high in completions (38), attempts (55) and yards (390) in Sunday’s loss to the Lions, which was 728 days since his last start and followed 17 surgeries to save his life and save his leg.
So what now?
Smith turns 37 in May. Washington drafted Dwayne Haskins as its franchise quarterback with the 15th overall pick in 2019, but he fell to third on the depth chart until Kyle Allen’s injury.
Washington coach Ron Rivera was asked Monday whether the team had its franchise quarterback in Smith.
“Well, possibly,” Rivera said, via Ben Standig of TheAthletic.com. “You have to look at how much longer can he play? How much does he want to play?”
In the past two weeks, since Allen was injured, Smith has completed 71.3 of his passes for 715 yards, averaged 8.22 yards per attempt and completed nine passes for 20-plus yards. It marks the first time in his career that Smith has thrown for 300 or more yards in back-to-back games.
“He’s proved that he’s back as a player,” Rivera said, via JP Finlay of NBCSportsWashington.com.
Smith said two weeks ago that he would wait until the offseason to decide his future.