Frost, Brooks to both kick in Redskins preseason finale
It’s the veteran savvy that won’t allow Derrick Frost to be tempted into believing he’s won his job back.
The Redskins punter had one of the few standout performances in an otherwise dreadful 47-3 preseason blowout loss to Carolina last weekend, averaging 51.3 yards over eight punts, including a 65-yarder that would’ve matched his career-long.
But because the Redskins didn’t win, and because rookie punter Durant Brooks is still on the roster, Frost was reluctant to project his standing in the down-to-the-wire position battle.
“When something like [a 47-3 loss] happens, everybody’s got to do something extra special and step up,” said Frost. “I really feel like on a couple punts I didn’t do that.”
Frost’s perspective may ultimately be what separates him (45.5 yards per punt, 32.3 net) from Brooks (44.2, 33.7), who are all but statistically deadlocked after two games apiece.
“I think our ability is pretty much the same,” said Brooks. “It’s just his five years in the league, in the mental part. He’s been through it. He knows how it is, and I still have jitters going out.”
Brooks, taken in the sixth round of this year’s draft, was never challenged in his two seasons at Georgia Tech, and he’s welcomed the trademark mental games and drill-sergeant style of Redskins special teams coach Danny Smith.
“I’m not saying Danny’s a military guy — in some ways he is — he’s pretty hard on you,” said Brooks. “I hope he’s being extra hard on me just because I’m new. He wants to put pressure on me to see how I perform under it.”
Frost has been pleased with the progress he’s achieved by ratcheting back his number of kicks per practice.
“Even you are having a good day, you want to keep kicking,” said Frost. “When you have a bad day, you want to kick yourself out of it so I’m always doing too much. It feels good to walk off the field after hitting seven balls and saying, ‘That was a good day.’”
Redskins head coach Jim Zorn said Monday that both punters will be utilized Thursday against Jacksonville, a game that is both a preseason finale for the team and the final round of a 39-day one-on-one showdown.
“Mentally, it’s extremely draining,” said Frost. “I think that’s one thing people don’t quite understand because it’s head-to-head competition. Every day we’re trying to beat one another out.”
