Per source : Alex Smith will be inactive.
— John Keim (@john_keim) January 9, 2021
It will be the backup QB with a single quarter of action this season who gets the start for the Washington Football Team on Saturday night in a wild-card game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Alex Smith, who was hoping to get the start, has not progressed enough from his calf strain injury, and ultimately will be unable to play against Tom Brady and the Bucs in Washington’s first playoff game since 2015.
Coming into this weekend, we all knew this was a distinct possibility, with Smith being held out of practice all week while trying to nurse his calf back to health, which has been hobbling him for several weeks now. On Friday night, a report came out that Smith was still feeling a lot of soreness in his leg, but he would wait to see how it felt on Saturday morning before making a decision. On Saturday morning, there was still no word, which might have provided some more hope, but ultimately the decision was that Washington would be better off with a healthy Heinicke, rather than a hobbled Smith.
In his one-quarter of action this year against the Carolina Panthers, Heinicke earned a little bit of trust from his teammates, going 12-for-19 for 137 yards and a touchdown in relief of a benched Dwayne Haskins. The most notable reaction came from DE Chase Young, who appreciated the confidence that the backup QB played with.
With as strong as Washington’s defense is, and as stagnant as the offense has been even under Smith, putting Heinicke under center is not exactly a death sentence for the burgundy and gold. If they can stick to their gameplan and make life tough on Brady, even a handcuffed offense could be able to get the job done.
