Continuing a remarkable comeback, quarterback Alex Smith earned a spot on the Washington Football Team’s 53-man roster.
Coach Ron Rivera said he threw Smith “right into the middle of the fire” in the final practices, putting him in 11-on-11 drills outside the view of the media, and he passed all tests.
Dwayne Haskins has been named the starter for Week 1, and Smith and Kyle Allen are the other quarterbacks on the roster.
Smith sustained a gruesome compound fracture of his right tibia and fibula during a November 2018 game against the Houston Texans. The injury required 17 surgeries, many of them to fight a life-threatening infection. His injury and recovery were featured in an ESPN documentary released earlier this year.
Smith did not participate in any of Washington’s padded 11-on-11 workouts during the portion of training camp that was open to the media.
He completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 2,180 yards with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions in 10 starts in his most recent season in 2018.
The 49ers drafted Smith with the No. 1 overall pick in 2005, and he played seven seasons in San Francisco and five with the Kansas City Chiefs before joining Washington in 2018. For his career, he is 94-66-1 as a starter with a 62.4 percent completion rate, 34,068 passing yards, 193 touchdown passes and 101 interceptions.
In other roster moves Saturday, Washington released safety Sean Davis, who was signed in the offseason, ESPN reported.
The team paid the 26-year-old Davis, who started 40 games with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2016-18, a $2 million signing bonus. He was placed on injured reserve after Week 2 last season with a shoulder injury.
ESPN reported Washington also put linebacker Reuben Foster on injured reserve as he continues his recovery from a May 2019 knee injury. Washington claimed him off waivers from the San Francisco 49ers in late 2018 but he has never played for the team.
