LANDOVER — Not long after Kyle Allen hit the ground, writhing in pain with a fractured ankle, Alex Smith said he felt a “ton of emotions.”
The Washington quarterback watched along with other concerned teammates as Allen’s leg was carefully placed in am air cast. He saw the cart roll out on the field and noted that Allen tried to keep his head high while he was driven to the locker room.
“I know that routine pretty well,” Smith said.
After all, two years ago this month, Smith suffered his own devastating leg injury. But the Washington backup — thrust suddenly into action — couldn’t dwell in the moment on the eerie parallels.
The roller-coaster ride that is the Washington quarterback situation took another hairpin turn Sunday when Allen dislocated his ankle in the team’s 23-20 loss to the New York Giants at FedEx Field. The injury puts Smith, who started the season at No. 3 on the depth chart, back under center as a starter, 721 days after his own severe broken leg — an injury that at the time seemed to not only jeopardize the veteran’s playing career, it literally posed a threat to his life.
In his second outing of the season, Smith looked much sharper than he did in last month’s rain-filled loss to the Los Angeles Rams. On Sunday, he rallied the team back from a 20-3 deficit, throwing for 325 yards. But the comeback fell short, thanks to three interceptions — two in the final minutes that sealed the game for the 2-7 Giants.
“I feel like I have continued to progress and continue to get better and I am thankful for that,” Smith said. “For now, this is another step. I am incredibly bummed for Kyle, you never want to see that. He has a bright future ahead of him. For me, (it’s) kind of going full steam ahead.”
The loss was costly: Washington fell to 2-6, falling further behind in what is still an embarrassingly winnable NFC East.
In Allen, Washington loses a starting quarterback coaches felt gave the team a shot at competing for the division.
Coach Ron Rivera said he didn’t know if Allen would be out for the year, but he said Smith gets the call for next week in Detroit. Dwayne Haskins, who has been inactive since his benching, will be the backup.
“We’re going to go forward with the setup the way it is,” Rivera said.
Ultimately, the revolving door at quarterback makes it harder for Rivera to evaluate the potential of the team he’s trying to rebuild — even if it’s not particularly new for this franchise.
On Sunday, former Redskins great Joe Theismann put it perfectly when Allen went down: “November is a lousy month for Washington QBs,” tweeted Theismann, whose career ended 35 years ago (against the same Giants) with a broken leg after a ferocious Lawrence Taylor sack.
Allen went down late in the first quarter when safety Jabrill Peppers, who was already on the grass, whipped his leg into the 24-year-old quarterback’s ankle. Multiple reports indicated that he suffered a “small” fracture.
Peppers said he apologized immediately, adding he “didn’t mean” to intentionally hurt the quarterback.
Smith almost put Washington in a position to win. In the second half, he led three scoring drives — two of which resulted in touchdowns. With 10:35 left in the fourth, Smith hit wideout Terry McLaurin for a 68-yard touchdown, the quarterback’s first passing TD since his injury. In just one game, Smith threw for more yards against the Giants than he did in any of his 10 previous starts in 2018.
But there were moments that made it evident Smith is still working his way back.
On his second interception, Smith threw a pass too high for running back J.D. McKissic. Later, with 1:15 left, Giants safety Logan Ryan baited Smith to the middle of the field and picked off the errant throw to seal the win.
Still, Rivera said he was “pretty pleased” with Smith.
“He tried to make things happen and force things, and unfortunately bad things happened each time,” Rivera said. “Thre will be times where he’s going to force something and something (good) will happen. We’ll all be happy about that.”
To Rivera, the bigger problems that plagued Washington happened in the first half. The team hardly resemble the squad that dominated Dallas, a win that left Washington with a renewed confidence that it was starting to click under Rivera.
Instead, the team gave up 20 points in the first half and had a series of unforced errors. Washington fumbled twice: Antonio Gibson lost control and the ball bounced 26 yards forward before the Giants recovered. Late, Isaiah Wright muffed a punt inside the 20 — leading to a Giants’ score.
Like it did in its first meeting less than a month ago, Washington’s defense struggled to get off the field against the Giants. New York was 6 of 15 on third down, consistently moving the chains. This time, New York was boosted with an efficient rushing attack as Washington gave up 166 yards on the ground. New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones went without committing a turnover for only the second time in his career.
“We’ll learn you can’t spot teams 20 points in a half and expect to give yourself a fair chance to win,” Rivera said. “But the way that they came back and played … was indicative of who this football team can be, in my opinion.”
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.