Alex Smith: I 'Didn't Want to Scare the Hell Out of' Dak Prescott After Injury

Washington Football Team quarterback Alex Smith has the Dallas Cowboys' Dak Prescott in his thoughts, but he has yet to reach out to the quarterback after the gruesome injury he suffered Sunday—and for good reason.

Appearing on The Dan Patrick Show (h/t Lorenzo Reyes of USA Today), Smith gave his take on Prescott's situation:

"I feel like I've become a little bit of an expert with the lower leg, so I knew it looked like his ankle immediately. I've been thinking about him a lot. I've checked up on him through our mutual friends. I thought a lot about shooting him a text, but part of me also didn't want to scare the hell out of him by shooting him a text and getting him thinking he might be headed down this road. I'll let the infection risk kind of get out of the way and hopefully reach out here soon."

During the Cowboys' win over the New York Giants in Week 5, Prescott suffered a compound fracture and dislocation of his right ankle that required surgery.

Like Prescott, Smith suffered a significant injury during a game in the form of a compound fracture to his tibia and fibula in 2018. His leg got infected and there was concern that amputation was a possibility, but after multiple surgeries, Smith managed to recover.

On Sunday, Smith got into a game for the first time since suffering that brutal injury nearly two years ago.

Smith and Prescott will likely be mentioned in the same breath for a long time to come because of their injuries. The 36-year-old Utah product noted that he respected his NFC East counterpart even before the unfortunate events that occurred Sunday:

"For me, especially with Dak, I feel like we have a ton in common. Because he played for my same coaches up in college. Dan Mullen coached him in college, my good friend Brian Johnson was his quarterbacks coach all through college. Dak's a guy I keep up with a lot, certainly in the division as well, so I have a ton of respect for him. I love his game. I love him as a human being, everything he's about, so I had just gotten home from our game, celebrating and taking it all in with my wife and kids. We had the Cowboy game on, so I watched it happen live."

The Mississippi State alum's injury was heartbreaking for many reasons, including the fact that he was on a record-setting pace in terms of passing yards. The two-time Pro Bowler had completed 68.0 percent of his passes for 1,856 yards with nine touchdowns and four interceptions.

The 27-year-old was likely well on his way to landing a massive contract from the Cowboys or another team. Now, he is in jeopardy of losing out on a lot of money, as he was playing out this season under the franchise tag.

Veteran Andy Dalton replaced Prescott in Sunday's game and led the Cowboys to a come-from-behind victory, and it is likely that Dallas' playoff chances in 2020 will hinge on the arm of the Red Rifle.

While Sunday was nightmarish for Prescott, it was a fairy-tale day for Smith in many ways. He entered Washington's game against the Los Angeles Rams as the backup after head coach Ron Rivera demoted Dwayne Haskins Jr. and named Kyle Allen the new starter.

After Allen suffered an arm injury, Smith replaced him and went 9-of-17 for 37 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions in a 30-10 loss.

While neither Smith nor Washington played particularly well, it wasn't long ago that Smith returning to the NFL seemed unlikely, so the mere fact that he was able to play in an NFL game again was a major win for him.

It could also serve as inspiration for Prescott, as he works his way back from a significant injury of his own.