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Alex Smith is ‘kind of like a coach’ with the Redskins’ quarterbacks

By Jacob Camenker

LANDOVER, MD - SEPTEMBER 16: Quarterback Alex Smith #11 of the Washington Redskins walks off of the field after losing to the Indianapolis Colts at FedExField on September 16, 2018 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD - SEPTEMBER 16: Quarterback Alex Smith #11 of the Washington Redskins walks off of the field after losing to the Indianapolis Colts at FedExField on September 16, 2018 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
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Alex Smith is highly unlikely to get on the field for the Redskins in 2019. But, the veteran quarterback is still having an impact on the team and is serving as a mentor for the quarterbacks currently on the team.

When Alex Smith went down with a brutal-looking leg injury against the Houston Texans last season, there were many doubts about his future with the Washington Redskins. First and foremost, his health was a major issue and over the course of an eight-month span, he went through procedures to help fix his leg and stabilize it after the injury.

The questions weren’t about football, at that time. It was all about whether or not he would be able to walk on that leg again.

But since that point, Smith has started to heal. He is almost certainly going to miss the entire 2019 season, but he may want to take a shot at a comeback in 2020. That will be up to him, but at the moment, he is staying active in the Redskins organization.

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During training camp, Smith has been a mainstay in the team’s quarterback room and has helped to mentor the passers competing for the starting job in his absence. And he recently opened up on what it’s like to be in that role.

“It’s definitely a different role for me, different capacity, but I’m loving being down here,” Smith said to Larry Michael, as transcribed by Redskins.com’s Kyle Stackpole. “It’s been nice being around the guys. Selfishly for me, it’s been nice to help me pass some time here and I’ve been getting good work in. But at the same time obviously it’s a different role, almost kind of like a coach a little bit with the guys, especially the quarterbacks.”

That role could prove to be extremely valuable for the passers.

The Redskins have some intriguing names in the quarterback room. Rookie first-round pick Dwayne Haskins stands out as the future quarterback for the franchise, but will he be the present for them? He is going to have to stave off competition from veterans Case Keenum and Colt McCoy and right now, the battle seems to be pretty even all-around. But any of these passers can benefit from Smith’s knowledge, especially Haskins.

Smith has proven to be willing to mentor younger quarterbacks during his time in San Francisco and Kansas City. He played ahead of Colin Kaepernick for the 49ers and only lost his starting job due to an injury. But, Smith still helped him to improve and learn the inner workings of Jim Harbaugh‘s system.

And in 2017, Smith was still the starter for the Chiefs ahead of first-round pick Patrick Mahomes. Though Smith knew the writing was on the wall for his time as the starter in Kansas City, he still performed well and helped to teach Mahomes along with Andy Reid. Smith’s impact of helping bring along a young guy could be felt with Haskins, especially if he can drop some knowledge on the 15th overall pick.

Next. 5 takeaways from first Redskins depth chart. dark

No matter how you look at it, it’s good to have Smith at training camp. He’s a veteran voice to have on the sideline and he could be a calming presence and resource in the quarterback room. Perhaps if he can show well as a mentor, he will have a future in coaching, if that’s a path that he desires to travel down.

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