Ron Rivera ‘pleasantly surprised’ with Alex Smith’s progress, says he could join QB competition

“I can envision it, and I said the big thing is if he can do the things that we needed him to do, that he needs to do, to help himself on the football field, he’ll be part of the conversation most definitely,” Rivera said. “He did some really good things last week. He went through all four workout days, had no residual effect the next morning, which is always important because the next day usually tells, and he comes out and he’s just raring to go. We’ll see how he is this week and we’ll go from there.”

Smith was placed on the active/physically unable to perform list at the start of training camp, allowing him to participate in most team activities — conditioning, weight training, team meetings — save for practice or walk-throughs.

The team can activate him at any point, or they can decide to leave him on reserve/PUP for the season, in which case he would be shelved for a minimum six weeks before the team could consider activating him to the 53-man roster.

“He’s looked good, he really has,” Rivera said. “I’ll be honest, I was pleasantly surprised to see how far along he is. It’s been exciting to watch his progression. He’s working off to the side with the trainers, he’s trying to mirror all the activity that the other quarterbacks are doing with Kenny [Zampese] and Scott Turner, and he gets a chance to work on all those techniques. He’s looked really fluid, he really has, and it’s a tribute to who he is, it’s a tribute to his trainers and his doctors that have helped him get to where he is today.”

Throughout much of the offseason, second-year quarterback Dwayne Haskins was the presumed starter for Washington after he started seven games and came off the bench for two others his rookie season.

Yet Rivera declined to name him the outright QB1 and challenged Haskins, both publicly and in private conversations, to show a commitment to the position and take on a greater leadership role.

“He’s done the extra stuff that he and I talked about in the offseason,” Rivera said. “He’s done the things that I think puts him right there where he needs to be at this junction of where we are in our training, having only been able to do Zoom and now we have only four days of work on the field. He’s done the job that I think deserves recognition.”

Rivera has sought competition across the board in training camp, and the plan was to have Haskins go primarily against Kyle Allen to retain the starting job. It’s possible that plan remains in place, but the progress of Smith has added a new layer to the team’s lead-up to the season.

“I don’t think Dwayne is really far behind, I really don’t,” Rivera said. “He’s done a great job of studying, preparing and getting himself ready for this, and he’s been great. He’s been on the field doing the things we’ve asked of him.”

Because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, training camp is on a much different schedule from years past. Smith and the other quarterbacks reported along with the team’s rookies on July 23 and, after five days of coronavirus testing, began a series of workouts with the strength and conditioning staff. For four consecutive days, Washington had “60-60-60” days, with 60 minutes each of conditioning, walk-through and weight-training. Tuesday will be the first day with a full 80-man roster.

Beginning Aug. 13, Washington will begin the second phase of its ramp-up period and the workouts and walk-throughs will extend to 90 minutes each, with active players wearing helmets. Their first day of padded practice is scheduled for Aug. 18.

Whether Smith will be included in those practices remains to be seen.

“I really haven’t thought about a drop-dead point, mostly because he’s a veteran, he’s a very smart quarterback, bright individual,” Rivera said when asked if he had any sort of a deadline to activate Smith. “And to be honest with you, I believe he probably already knows 75 percent of our playbook. So for him, it’s just a matter of can he do the movements he needs to do, can he protect himself when he’s on the field more so than anything else, because remember, he’s going to have to hand the ball off, he’s going to have to drop back into the pocket and throw the ball, he’s going to have to escape and we have to make sure he can do those things and protect himself as he plays.”

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