Washington Football Team quarterback Alex Smith continued his remarkable comeback, earning a spot on the 53-man roster, a source said Saturday.

Smith likely will be Washington's No. 3 quarterback, which means he'd be inactive during the regular season. Smith did not participate in full-padded 11-on-11 work during the training camp portion open to the media this summer. Dwayne Haskins will start; Kyle Allen is the No. 2 quarterback.

Teams must trim their roster to 53 by 4 p.m. ET Saturday.

Coach Ron Rivera had said they'd want to see him in full-team work to best assess his movement in the pocket - and his ability to protect himself. Smith was limited to five passes over two 11-on-11 sessions with no pads.

But coaches were pleased how he moved in other drills, including nine-on-nine situations in which he faced two pass rushers and was forced to move in the pocket. On one occasion, he sprinted away from the rush to his right and fired a pass.

Saturday caps quite a journey for Smith. He had suffered a broken tibia and fibula in November 2018, leading to 17 surgeries, near amputation and many questions surrounding his future. Before training camp began, multiple team sources expressed severe doubts about his ability to earn a roster spot. Or that any doctor would clear him for full contact.

Throughout the process, many people in the organization refused to dismiss his chances - mostly out of respect for him. They knew the work he was putting in to return. The common line delivered by multiple sources with Washington: "If anyone can do it, Alex can."

His team of doctors cleared him for full activity in late July, though he still opened training camp on the physically unable to perform list. But word quickly spread that coaches were pleasantly surprised by how he was moving and Washington removed him from the PUP list on Aug. 16.

But there was still doubt as Washington weighed whether to keep him around.

When Smith was hurt in 2018, Washington was 6-3 and in first place in the NFC East. He had modest stats - 10 touchdowns and an 85.7 passer rating -- and was struggling to master the offense. But teammates credited his leadership and his ability to avoid trouble - only five interceptions -- as a key reason for that success. At season's end, multiple players bemoaned the loss of his leadership.

In 13 years, Smith has started 161 games and thrown 193 touchdowns to 101 interceptions. The No. 1 pick in the 2005 draft spent seven seasons with San Francisco before being traded to Kansas City. The Chiefs traded him to Washington in the 2018 offseason, opening the door for Patrick Mahomes to start. Mahomes has credited Smith for providing a blueprint on how to prepare to play quarterback in the NFL. Smith also became a mentor to Haskins last season. But even while discussing his impact on Haskins, Smith said he could have a bigger impact if he were actually preparing to play and not just dispensing advice.Smith can do that now. Even he wondered where his recovery would take him.

"You naturally build up a ton of walls, wondering what you'll ever be capable of again, wondering what life will be like," he said. "I've spent a long time thinking about those things, that inner voice in your head. Ever since I've been on the road to recovery, to see what I can do and to knock down those walls. Obviously started with my first step as I kind of re-learned to walk, and progressed from there."

That progression, highlighted in the ESPN E:60 Documentary titled Project 11, took him back to the NFL.

"This is one of those ones where you wonder if I'll be able to do again," he said. "When you get closer and closer to it, I think it just fuels it even more. I think it'd be like running a marathon and getting close to the end of the race. I think even more that competitiveness kicks in, and I want to see if I can do it."

Former Washington quarterback Joe Theismann, who had to retire after a similar injury in 1985, told ESPN last month that he was living vicariously through Smith.

"I was pulling for him from Day 1," Theismann said. "In the beginning everyone said he'll never play again. I never bought that. Knowing Alex as I've come to know him and the determination he had ... When you watch the show Project 11, the way the show ends he was so much further ahead than where that show ended. Now he has a chance to go out and do certain things."