Alex Smith And His Very Intense Leg Apparatus Make First Public Appearance Since Scary Injury In November

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It’s been two months since Redskins quarterback Alex Smith suffered a stomach-churning leg injury against the Titans, 33 years to the day after Joe Theismann’s infamously broke his leg for the same franchise. Smith, who had led the Redskins to a 6-3 record and first in the NFC East at the time, broke both the fibula and tibia in his right leg on a third-quarter sack, instantly ending his 2018 campaign.

What’s worse is that the 34-year-old suffered an infection related to the surgery that required several additional surgeries and extended his hospital stay to four weeks. Smith was released from the hospital in mid-December, but had yet to appear in the public eye until he was spotted at the Wizards’ home game against the Pistons Monday.

His leg cast is…complex.

I’m no medical professional, but it would seem that there are less janky leg injury apparatuses than something that looks like a high school science project.

According to ProFootballDoc, Smith is wearing what is known as an ‘external fixator.’

Smith has an external fixator (a system of pins/wires with rods, like an erector set similar to the look of scaffold on the outside of a building) applied to his leg. This is necessary as the plates/screws holding the fracture were removed. A cast would not work due to the need to access the wound. The apparatus looks archaic and scary but is necessary in these situations.

Smith’s career still hangs in the balance,

 

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Matt’s love of writing was born during a sixth grade assembly when it was announced that his essay titled “Why Drugs Are Bad” had taken first prize in D.A.R.E.’s grade-wide contest. The anti-drug people gave him a $50 savings bond for his brave contribution to crime-fighting, and upon the bond’s maturity 10 years later, he used it to buy his very first bag of marijuana.