ASHBURN — When discussing Alex Smith, Redskins coach Jay Gruden has routinely noted there isn’t a throw or a play his quarterback can’t make. Moving on from Kirk Cousins, the Redskins felt Smith was the perfect replacement — if not an upgrade — to lead their offense.
But after five games, Gruden has identified an area Smith must be better at moving forward.
The quarterback has to get the ball out faster.
Smith has been sacked 12 times this season, and those plays aren’t always the result of poor pass protection from his offensive line. Even when Smith isn’t brought down, the quarterback has sometimes missed open receivers or focused too much on one target.
“I think the critical side of me, the coaching side of me, there are some things we’ve got to clean up,” Gruden said. “Get his eyes in certain progressions a little bit quicker and maybe get off some a little bit quicker. Sometimes he hangs on too long giving guys too much of a chance where he needs get off of them, get to the next guy.
“But for the most part, I thought he improved from last week to this week and there is still some improvement to do for everybody across the board. I like where he’s at. I like that he’s buying in and he’s learning.”
In Sunday’s 23-17 win against the Panthers, Smith averaged just 4.5 yards per attempt — his lowest since 2013. While the 34-year-old had two touchdowns, he threw for just 163 yards.
Under Smith, the Redskins’ offense has yet to get going in the second half of games. The team’s lone second-half touchdown came in the fourth quarter of a blowout loss on Oct. 8 against the New Orleans Saints.
Smith has also occasionally squandered opportunities — like when he was called for intentional grounding before halftime against the Panthers.
The penalty moved the Redskins out of field-goal range and they were forced to punt two plays later.
Gruden said the sequence led him to have a very “frustrating” discussion with Smith on the sideline.
“We had somebody open there that the ball should have gone to but he was trying to look off the safety a little bit too long and that’s kind of what we are talking about,” Gruden said. “Sometimes he gets stuck on a guy a little bit too long right now.”
Smith’s problem hasn’t been exclusive to one game. In New Orleans, for instance, Smith threw his second interception of the season after staring down running back Adrian Peterson for too long before forcing a ball intended for Maurice Harris.
Harris, though, had been wide open, and by the time Smith released the ball, Saints cornerback Justin Hardee recovered to make the play and returned the interception for 77 yards.
This season, according to NFL’s Next Gen Stats, Smith has released the ball an average of every 2.74 seconds, which ranks as the 16th-longest time in the league. Last season with the Kansas City Chiefs, Smith got the ball out every 2.67 seconds.
Overall, Smith has thrown for 1, 205 yards for six touchdowns and two interceptions, completing 64.3 percent of his passes. He has a quarterback rating of 91.9 and is averaging seven yards per attempt.
Smith, however, hasn’t been afraid to criticize his own performance either.
Days after the Saints loss, Smith said there were a lot of areas he needed to be better at, including using his eyes to find targets down the field.
But following the Panthers win, Smith said he felt like the Redskins are still “very untapped offensively.”
The Redskins were without playmakers Chris Thompson (rib, knee) and Jamison Crowder (ankle). He’s also still developing chemistry with wideouts like Josh Doctson and Paul Richardson.
“A lot of potential,” Smith said.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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