Washington quarterback Alex Smith wasn’t healthy enough for him to play against Tampa on Saturday night, so he had to watch as his team’s season came to an end with a 31-23 loss.
Smith said the injury that caused him to miss three of the final four games of the year was “a little more complicated” than a calf strain and called it frustrating while noting that “to be back playing a role and even being in this situation is something that” he would have happily taken the last two years.
Smith spent those years working his way back from a severe leg injury that required multiple surgeries to repair and more operations after an infection took hold. He played well enough for the team to win five of his six starts in a remarkable comeback.
On Sunday, Smith said he will “take a few weeks” before deciding whether he will continue playing in 2021.
“I had so much fun this year, especially given all the COVID stuff,” Smith said, via Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. “But to be back in the locker room, to be on the field with the guys, to be playing a game I love and to lose yourself in it, it’s one of the greatest feelings in the world. You cannot duplicate it outside of here. . . . My wife has been through a lot, and my family, certainly I’m going to take their input. But that’s something that right now I’m still just living in the moment and not getting ahead of myself. That is for another time and place.”
Smith is signed for two more years. He has a $18.75 million salary and $23.3 million cap hit next season, but the salary is not guaranteed and the team would get $14.7 million of cap space back if they want to move on without him.