The Washington Football Team is optimistic about Alex Smith's chances of starting Sunday against Seattle after the quarterback suffered a strained right calf muscle in this past Sunday's win over San Francisco, Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports.
"I'm told as of now Washington feels pretty good about Alex Smith's chances of playing on Sunday against the Seahawks," Pelissero said Tuesday on NFL Network.
"The plan going into this week is they're going to take it easy on Smith in practice," he said. "He needs rest more than he needs reps right now. But they are optimistic that they are going to be able to get him to Sunday. If Smith can't go, of course it would be Dwayne Haskins getting his first start since Week 4."
After Washington's 23-15 win on Sunday, head coach Ron Rivera told reporters Smith suffered a calf strain in his right leg — the same leg on which he underwent 17 surgeries — and was experiencing "muscle soreness" and "tightness," and couldn't get it to loosen up. Smith left late in the second quarter and Haskins ultimately finished out the game.
Smith underwent a series of X-rays at halftime, all of which returned negative, according to Rivera, who says Smith was held out from returning out of "an abundance of caution." Smith could have returned had Haskins suffered an injury.
When speaking to reporters on Monday, Rivera said Smith was just beginning to undergo a series of tests on his strained calf muscle, noting that he wouldn't have an update on Smith's progress until later that afternoon. Rivera did say Haskins will be ready to go, in case Smith can't go on Sunday.
