Mr. Smith returns to Washington

Alex Smith threw a short sideline route that felt like victory. The quarterback returned to the field for the first time since suffering a badly broken leg in Nov. 2018 that required 17 operations and nearly proved deadly because of infection. He nearly lost the leg and endured months of a ghastly metal brace.

- Rick Snider

Yet, here he was on a mid-August day trying to remember what normal felt like. Tossing some balls to running backs, learning a new offensive scheme under a different coaching staff than he last remembered.

It was a good day.

“The first day out there,” Smith said, “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about it, as far as just how I’d react and if I’d be quick enough or strong enough and things like that. Even just the few days in, just how much more natural I’ve felt out there, I wasn’t really thinking about it. I was thinking more about football and playing the game, which has been really, really nice to kind of lose myself in that.”

Smith doesn’t know where this is headed and the team sorta doesn’t care. Everyone is grateful to see Smith return to whatever level he can. Playing seems to be secondary for now.

Not that Smith doesn’t envision himself throwing touchdowns this fall. It’s just too soon to really think about it despite opening day not far away. For now, it’s literally one step at a time.