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Alex Smith Cleared for Full Football Activity by His Doctors


HTTRDynasty

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13 hours ago, BleedTheClock said:

The chances of Smith losing his leg now are very slim. I see no reason why so many people think he needs to retire to save himself. He’s rich, sure. But he worked his butt off I’m sure to get back to this point. Of course he wants to get out there again. He didn’t go through grueling rehabilitation just to retire. Does he have anything left? Idk, but people saying he needs to retire for his own sake are making it seem like this is a recurring injury. It was a bone break, which means the bones will return to normal strength. It will hurt him, but it won’t be any more injurable than it was pre-injury. And what destroyed his leg was an infection from the surgery. It’s not something that will happen again outside of insane fluke bad luck. 

They moved part of his quad muscle down into his leg to prevent him from losing it.  This wasn't an ordinary break, and 30 years ago, a similar injury cost Joe Theismann his career.   To say that this is not a risk for something else to happen again is probably not something either side of the argument can say unless we are a doctor who specializes in orthopedic medicine.

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39 minutes ago, naptownskinsfan said:

To say that this is not a risk for something else to happen again is probably not something either side of the argument can say unless we are a doctor who specializes in orthopedic medicine.

I guess my take is - those who cleared him (doctors who weren't associated with WDC FC, mind you).

They have their own protocol and they validate readiness with a legitimate scientific method, with milestones to be met and stress tests to make sure any recommendations hold up to any potential issue. If those doctors and PTs didn't feel like his leg was strong enough, they'd have him continue his modalities and any sort of recovery methods he took on. They're monitoring every single twitch of that leg and documenting the improvements (or, setbacks). It's not "rub some dirt on it and walk it off" anymore, there's a great amount of empirical data and case studies to rely on to reach this decision.

Sure, if Smith gets his leg folded underneath another CB and DE, then sure - he's going to break it again and this time he will probably lose the leg. That's absolutely on the table, that's a risk - but the same can be said about healthy players (Theismann, Napoleon McCallum come to mind). But, this talk of a misstep or a bad plant leading to another catastrophic injury is minimal. Sure, it CAN happen... just like how Smith could get into a car accident and suffer a broken leg or something. 

I trust the doctors on this one - they worked with him this entire time, they wouldn't clear him unless they were certain he'd be able to withstand the impact in some capacity.

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Awesome that he's back.  It's interesting because the NFC East isn't that great of a division.  The Redskins probably have a legit chance to win the division if they get good QB play.  If Smith is healthy and ready to play, you have to let him start, right?  I like Dwayne Haskins, but he's probably not a better QB than Alex Smith.

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1 hour ago, ET80 said:

I guess my take is - those who cleared him (doctors who weren't associated with WDC FC, mind you).

They have their own protocol and they validate readiness with a legitimate scientific method, with milestones to be met and stress tests to make sure any recommendations hold up to any potential issue. If those doctors and PTs didn't feel like his leg was strong enough, they'd have him continue his modalities and any sort of recovery methods he took on. They're monitoring every single twitch of that leg and documenting the improvements (or, setbacks). It's not "rub some dirt on it and walk it off" anymore, there's a great amount of empirical data and case studies to rely on to reach this decision.

Sure, if Smith gets his leg folded underneath another CB and DE, then sure - he's going to break it again and this time he will probably lose the leg. That's absolutely on the table, that's a risk - but the same can be said about healthy players (Theismann, Napoleon McCallum come to mind). But, this talk of a misstep or a bad plant leading to another catastrophic injury is minimal. Sure, it CAN happen... just like how Smith could get into a car accident and suffer a broken leg or something. 

I trust the doctors on this one - they worked with him this entire time, they wouldn't clear him unless they were certain he'd be able to withstand the impact in some capacity.

Yeah that’s what I meant. He isn’t getting cleared of a horrific injury like that if there’s a significant risk of reinjury. 

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2 hours ago, Deadpulse said:

If he is good to go does he start?

Whatever Rivera decides will be a key metric in how he views the rebuild of the club. As well as his relationship to the owner.
 

Smith and Snyder are close, with Smith spending hone ganes last year in the owners box. Snyder has taken a ton of PR hits over the past two years since this injury happened. I could easily see him wanting Smith to start and generate some good headlines. 

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