Alex Smith Not Starter for Washington Football Team

Washington quarterback Alex Smith made his first start since he suffered a gruesome knee injury during the 2018 season. The veteran finished the game completing a career-high 38 passes for 390 yards in Sunday’s 30-27 loss to Detroit.

On Monday, head coach Ron Rivera said Smith could “possibly” be viewed as a long-term answer at quarterback for Washington.

“That’s something we as coaches and as an organization have to talk about most certainly if he continues to play at this level,” Rivera said.

With seven games left in the season, Washington has time to analyze and discuss its starting quarterback options. Second-year player Dwayne Haskins was the opening-day starter, but was benched after four games.

Kyle Allen replaced Haskins as the starter, but he dislocated his ankle in a Week 9 loss to the New York Giants, which opened the way for Smith to start.

Even though Rivera said Smith has proven that he is back, the quarterback is 36-years-old and would count $23.3 million against the salary cap in 2021.

Update on Alex Smith

“You’ve got to look at how much longer you think he can play, how much longer does he want to play?” Rivera said.

Washington is also expected to closely monitor the college quarterbacks for possible long-term solutions, even though Rivera said he has not written off Haskins yet.

Smith, who has been sacked 10 times in three games, has shown that his leg can withstand getting hit often.
“That was the scary part is how normal it felt [Sunday],” Smith said. “I’ve got to pinch myself how lucky I am to feel that way. I’m lucky to progress this far and that I am where I am.”

Rivera said he doesn’t want to get caught up in the emotion of Smith’s story as he considers the future.”You judge him by his performance,” Rivera said. “You don’t get caught up in his story, you don’t get caught up in his age. Now, when you talk about going forward, now you talk about these other things.”