Alex Smith felt “right on the doorstep” of playing last weekend

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Washington listed Alex Smith as a non-participant in practice on Wednesday, but it doesn’t sound like that’s a reason for increased pessimism about his chances of playing against the Eagles.

Smith said that the plan for the day was for him to throw and do other work on the side and “felt like it was a positive” day for him as he tries to return from the calf injury that’s sidelined him the last two weeks. He also said that he felt he was close to playing against the Panthers last Sunday.

“I felt really close,” Smith said, via Kyle Stackpole of the team’s website. “Certainly, I got a lot [of work] in on Friday, and that was my mindset all week. . . . Certainly right on the doorstep of it.”

Smith said there was not one thing he needs to be able to do in order to play and called it “an all-encompassing kind of thing.” Taylor Heinicke took first team reps Wednesday and will start if Smith can’t play.