Alex Smith displeased with how he was handled in Washington

[JawnyBlaze]

https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/04/22/alex-smith-retirement-inside-comeback-tension-with-washington-coaches-daily-cover
 

A story that should surprise no Panthers fans, Alex Smith believes Rivera jerked him around and sabotaged his return. Sounds about par for the course for the egomaniac we saw in Carolina. 
 

“Still, he did not understand the tactics his coaches used to keep him sidelined. First, they placed him on the Physically Unable to Perform list, even though world-renowned doctors had pronounced him physically able to perform. At camp, players wore GPS trackers, and none traversed 4,000 yards a day on average like Smith, whose coaches asked him to carry extra weight, push sleds and hurdle bags for drills—tasks he had never done in 15 pro seasons, let alone before his leg had to be rebuilt. Smith believed the team wanted to see if it could break him, and if that sounds paranoid, the team physician agreed with him.”

”Smith found the coaches “patronizing,” meaning he believed they preferred a cute story, the comeback already at the end. His father, Doug, says he believes the team “sabotaged” the return. None of the Smiths could figure out why. The coaches could worry about the injury and his future, but they were not experts. “I’d rather have somebody right in my face say, What are you thinking?” Smith says. “It pissed me off.””

Rivera claimed he was scared to put Smith out there for Smith’s sake. As someone who routinely ignored Cam’s health and well being in order to preserve his own job, either that excuse is BS or there is another reason he would care more about Smith’s well being than Cam’s. (For the record, I don’t believe it’s the second.)

[chknwing]

[BrianS]

Feel bad for Smith.  He's a guy who did the best he could with what he had.

As far as WTF, I hope they reap what they sow.

[Cam2Ligit2Quit]

22 minutes ago, BrianS said:

Feel bad for Smith.  He's a guy who did the best he could with what he had.

As far as WTF, I hope they reap what they sow.

I believe they did. Their karma was called “dwayne haskins” they will need to trade the farm by mortgaging the future to get the chance to draft one of the top QB this weekend 

[mickeye76]

I always wanted to like Ron ( players coach, hard nosed and old school.) Problem is I think he might be too old school and just hard headed.  Smith deserved better.  For that matter Cam did too.  

[Panthera onca]

Ron not properly handling his players? Blasphemy.

[Waldo]

But Ron is a players coach and they all love him....

[Shotgun]

1 minute ago, Waldo said:

But Ron is a players coach and they all love him....

Ron hates QBs

[PizzaTheHutt]

[CanePantherHornet]

I'm not a Rivera defender but I think Alex is greatly overestimating his own skill post injury. It was a nice story seeing him play in a few more games, but those few games made it obvious he was done.

[Mr. Scot]

8 minutes ago, Shotgun said:

Ron hates QBs

I don't know that Rivera hates quarterbacks so much as he just doesn't understand them.

Having seen what Ken Dorsey was able to do with Josh Allen, the fact that Rivera made him walk on eggshells around Newton is a real pisser.

Who knows what could have been?

[Moo Daeng]

I would have been scared to death to play a guy hobbling around on a massively reconstructed leg and missing a noticeable portion of his calf muscle to.  That's hardly an indictment on a coach who was accused of not caring about players injuries when here.

 

Cue Mister Scot

[CanePantherHornet]

3 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

I don't know that Rivera hates quarterbacks so much as he just doesn't understand them.

Having seen what Ken Dorsey was able to do with Josh Allen, the fact that Rivera made him walk on eggshells around Newton is a real pisser.

Who knows what could have been?

Allen and Cam also have very different personalities.