All the quarterback questions in Washington are immediate, as the Case Keenum-or-Dwayne Haskins debate rages.
But quietly, they’re getting some bit of good news.
Via Les Carpenter of the Washington Post, injured quarterback Alex Smith has been throwing at the team facility, heaving long passes as he recovers from last year’s grisly broken leg. Smith recently said he needed 17 surgeries to recover from that damage, but the arm apparently looks good.
“He’s been throwing for some time now. I think it’s been a progression that he’s built up,” interim coach Bill Callahan said. “He hasn’t just come out there and started throwing 50-yard bombs.”
Smith has said he hopes to play again, though he hasn’t made many public appearances.
“He’s working diligently on the road to rehab and trying to get himself back to 100 percent,” Callahan said. “I have never seen anything like the effort he’s pouring into his rehab. It’s so impressive. . . . He’s got the ultimate respect of all of us.
“As a competitor, wanting to get back on the field again and wanting to play again after what he’s gone through, the trauma that he’s gone through, it speaks volumes for his passion and for his will. I’ve never seen a player with that type of will — he wills himself to do things, and he’s a great example for players and for people in general to emulate and to follow. I’ve got more respect for Alex than you can even imagine.”
Whether he ever plays again — or for them — is practically a side issue. The fact he’s well enough to do something resembling football is the best news for him, after such a traumatic injury.