Washington Football Team QB Alex Smith Cleared for Football Activity

Two years after a horrific leg injury, Smith has been cleared to play again

Alex Smith Cleared
Alex Smith of the Washington Redskins looks on before the game against the Detroit Lions at FedExField on November 24, 2019 in Landover, Maryland.
Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

The Alex Smith comeback tour appears to be fully on for this upcoming NFL season. Two years after a horrific leg injury that sidelined him indefinitely, the Washington Football Team has cleared Smith for football activity, removing him from the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list in the process.

This is a huge step for Smith’s hopes for playing in the NFL again, after he suffered a right leg injury so bad that it resembled a war wound on November 18, 2018. The quarterback has been rehabbing since that injury, including at a military facility, in order to get back on the field.

That’s no small feat, as there was a fear he would never be able to walk normally again after the double sack from Houston Texans defenders J.J. Watt and Kareem Jackson, which shattered both his tibia and fibia. And yet, after the lengthy rehab, it appears that Smith is ready to practice again. Whether that means he will actually play in the upcoming season remains to be seen, but he’s further down his recovery path than anyone expected.

Smith and his family are approriately excited about the news, with his wife Elizabeth posting a video of the celebration once Smith was taken off the PUP list:

Washington head coach Ron Rivera said that if Smith is cleared, he will be included in the quarterback competition for the upcoming season, something that perhaps no one believed possible even a year ago, especially after Smith had 17 surgeries on his leg due to an infection. After an offseason of turmoil for Washington, the Smith news is a welcome bright light.

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