What It Means:

The Football Team is awaiting more information before making a final decision, but Fowler says it is "trending" toward Allen missing the rest of the season after suffering a dislocated left ankle Sunday. Alex Smith will take over as the starter with Dwayne Haskins presumably backing him up. Smith completed 24-of-32 passes for 325 yards, 1 touchdown, and 3 interceptions in Washington's 23-20, Week 9 loss to the New York Giants. He is as conservative as they come at this point in his career and may serve as a downgrade for Washington's receivers, but Smith taking over could be an upgrade for J.D. McKissic, who racked up a team-high 14 targets. No other Washington player was targeted more than six times. The Football Team will play the Detroit Lions in Week 10.

Allen recorded negative -0.06 Passing Net Expected Points per dropback, compared to Smith's 0.09. The latter had the lowest average depth of target (3.5 yards) among any quarterback with multiple dropbacks in Week 9. Allen owns an average depth of target of 6.4 yards for the season.