As if allowing 27 points and more than 300 yards to the New England Patriots on Saturday night wasn’t bad enough, the Washington Redskins’ starting defense took another injury hit with Renaldo Wynn’s sprained right ankle.
Wynn said he was “horse collared” — pulled down from behind — by a Patriots offensive lineman. He was visibly upset while walking off the Gillette Stadium field.
Yesterday at Redskin Park, Wynn said his status for Thursday’s preseason finale against Baltimore is unknown.
“They haven’t told me anything — it’s a day at a time and it’s so early right now,” Wynn said. “We’re just trying to get the inflammation out and get as much treatment as possible to get a better diagnosis. I’m not a guy who says too much but I got pretty emotional, especially in this game — there’s no need for dirty play. I just felt it was uncalled for the guy to pull me from behind.”
Wynn joins starters Phillip Daniels (back), Cornelius Griffin (knee) and Shawn Springs (abdominal surgery) on the sideline.
Springs had surgery 13 days ago and has yet to begin running.
“[The season opener] is probably too far right now to really say — I’m taking it week by week,” he said. “I’m resting it and doing a little rehabbing and progress to maybe jogging this week.”
Daniels has missed the last two games and Griffin was injured in the Jets game. Gibbs did not speculate on their availability this week.
“It will be where they think they are and what the trainers think,” he said. “We think they’re both making good progress, but I don’t know if they’ll be ready for Thursday or for the opener.”
Frosty reception
Punter Derrick Frost’s struggles continued Saturday night with a performance that included a 23-yard punt from the Redskins’ 18-yard line.
Gibbs didn’t exactly give Frost a vote of confidence yesterday.
“Derrick needs to be more consistent and he knows that,” he said. “We need to work hard on that. Up to this point, we’ve been alternating guys and we need to do a good job analyzing that situation. It’s something we need to look at. We certainly need a smoother and more consistent performance from him.”
Challenger David Lonie averaged 40.3 yards on three punts against the Patriots.
Gibbs would not reveal if the Redskins are thinking about trying out other punters this week.
Brunell’s progress
Even though Mark Brunell went 7-for-16 for 51 yards in two-plus quarters of play, Gibbs said he saw progress.
“He was smoother and quicker with things,” Gibbs said. “When you get him into a groove, we’re seeing some good things with him and I thought he made some good plays. Is he where we want him to be? No. None of us are. But there are some things there.”
Brunell’s cause wasn’t helped by three sacks.
“They ran a couple stunts that gave us trouble in pass protection and we flat missed some blitz pick-ups, which you can’t do,” Gibbs said.
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