Alex Smith confident he’ll connect with new teammates in Week 1

Alex Smith has yet to share a field during a game with new teammates Chris Thompson, Jordan Reed and Jamison Crowder, three integral parts of the Washington Redskins’ offense.

But the Redskins quarterback, who will start Sunday at the Arizona Cardinals, said Wednesday he doesn’t think there is anything in particular he still needs to learn about the three skill players in a game setting.

“I think it’s cumulative,” Smith said. “You just try to get as many reps as possible and kind of bank those. Trying to create as much of a game-like situation on the practice field is hard, yet I think we’ve done that.”

Thompson and Reed did not play during the preseason. Reed has been battling a number of health issues, including a toe injury, while Thompson is coming back from a broken leg he suffered in November. Crowder was nursing a minor groin injury that kept them out of games.

Smith, though, said practice time has helped him become familiar with those players. Of course, he has not played a regular season game with most of his new offensive teammates, other than Vernon Davis, his former 49ers teammate.

The quarterback admitted he is curious to see how everything will come together Sunday.

“That’s every single year though, I think, regardless,” Smith said. “Every single year there’s a little bit of, you’re setting sail, you’ve gotta find out. Certainly it’s a journey. Over the course of a season it’s not always the same. Teams ascend and teams descend over the course of a year.”

Though he’s entering the 14th NFL season, Smith also admitted he “absolutely” gets butterflies leading up to a new year.

“It’s been a long time since our last game for all of us. It’s exciting,” he said. “I think that’s part of the reason you keep playing, is that feeling of, you know, being alive and putting yourself out there. The vulnerability of it. So no question, we’re going to go do it together and that’s the great thing about this team sport.”