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Alex Smith’s, and the Redskins, season ended when he broke his tibia and fibula on November 18, 2018 against the Houston Texans. Smith immediately had surgery due to the severity of the injury(open fracture, spiral fracture). The injury was gruesome and his return for 2019, and possibly at all, immediately was a question mark.
There was virtually no news on Smith until reports surfaced that he was dealing with infections following the initial surgery, and had had multiple surgeries during his extended stay in the hospital. Smith had a plate removed due to infection, and there was more speculation and rumors about Smith’s recovery time. Would Alex Smith ever play football for the Washington Redskins, or anyone, again?
Smith was released from the hospital around December 16th, almost a month after the initial injury.
Now over a month after his release he is out in public at today’s Washington Wizards game wearing a huge brace/external fixator to secure his broken leg. Smith’s recovery is expected to take up to a year, and the entire 2019 season.
Alex Smith spotted at the Wizards game, his first public appearance since leg surgery #Wizards #Redskins pic.twitter.com/zYj5hIzf9W
— NBC Sports Wizards (@NBCSWizards) January 21, 2019
I am a doctor and that is much more than a brace. It's an external fixator. Those pins you see are screwed into his bone.
— Burgundy Blog (@BurgundyBlog) January 21, 2019
Good to see #AlexSmith in good spirits.
— David J. Chao, MD (@ProFootballDoc) January 21, 2019
The "contraption" on is leg is called an external fixator. I have assumed since early December this would be the case as written here: https://t.co/LrmLHLg3sO https://t.co/LcCmTDdTLl
Alex Smith made an appearance in the Wizards locker room. pic.twitter.com/eUDdHfgg5P
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) January 21, 2019
Brief clip of Beal and Smith embracing. pic.twitter.com/qKB2Aml75G
— Matthew Paras (@Matthew_Paras) January 21, 2019
Here’s to hoping Alex’s recovery is going well!