Redskins to try out punters this week

Durant Brooks still was the Washington Redskins’ punter Monday when he attended a team meeting, spoke with coach Jim Zorn and met with trainers after undergoing an MRI for a nagging hip flexor/groin injury.

That is expected to change before the Redskins return to practice Wednesday or play the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

On his radio show on ESPN 980 on Monday morning, Redskins executive vice president Vinny Cerrato said the team would be trying out “two or three punters [Tuesday]. Somebody else will be punting Sunday.”

A team source said 13-year veteran Josh Miller and former Seattle Seahawks punter Ryan Plackemeier are expected to try out.

Cerrato’s comments left Zorn scrambling during his midday press conference - he had to correct one of his bosses without criticizing him for revealing too much information.

“If you read what he said in context, it was assuming [Brooks] was [inactive] with this injury,” Zorn said. “We already had contacted some punters to come in regardless of the injury. Those two factors could help Vinny say that.”

Results on Brooks’ MRI were negative. Zorn said the injury forced Brooks to limit his practice activity last week even though his name didn’t appear on the injury report.

The most likely course of action is to cut Brooks after reaching an injury settlement. The Redskins also could consider putting him on the practice squad if he is not claimed by another team.

Brooks was a sixth-round draft pick this year and won the job over incumbent Derrick Frost in training camp. His departure would mean only one of the team’s nine draft picks, safety Chris Horton, is playing regularly.

Brooks’ 32.1-yard net average ranks last in the NFL, though nine of his 26 punts have landed inside the 20-yard line. But his consistency never improved, and poor hang time contributed to punt returns for touchdowns by Reggie Bush (hang time of 3.62 seconds) and DeSean Jackson (4.09 seconds).

The Redskins are acting quickly because Dallas and Green Bay also are looking for punters. The Cowboys’ Mat McBriar was injured Sunday and will miss at least a month with a broken right foot. The Packers tried out kickers Monday because Frost continues to struggle (26th in net average).

Zorn has a Seattle connection to the 24-year-old Plackemeier, who averaged 35.8 net yards in two years with the Seahawks but was cut before the season opener. Miller, 38, punted eight years for Pittsburgh and three for New England and played in one game last year for Tennessee.

“When we bring the punters in, it just means we’re going to work them out and have many conversations before Wednesday about the situation, and then we’ll go from there,” Zorn said. “But you can’t just say, ’We’ll replace [Brooks]. See you later.’ We have to look at who would be replacing him. He may be the best guy out there, and we would continue to work with him.”

The new punter also would hold on Shaun Suisham’s extra points and field goals.

“We know he’s a good punter, but a good punter also punts well in the games, and he did not,” Zorn said of Brooks.

The Redskins are confident they can move on from the 19-17 loss to St. Louis on Sunday. They rebounded from a Week 1 defeat to the New York Giants by winning four consecutive games.

“We were going to move on regardless,” cornerback Fred Smoot said. “We’re not going to base our season on this. We know we have a long season. If you asked us three months ago about starting 4-2, we would feel pretty good. But the other team played better, and they won.”

Zorn disagreed with running back Clinton Portis’ assertion that the Redskins underestimated the Rams.

“I don’t think we overlooked that team at all, and I don’t think we’ll overlook any team,” Zorn said. “I don’t think we saw ourselves as an elite team and were strutting our stuff and walking in saying, ’We are so awesome.’ We tried to play hard and tried to win the game.”

Zorn lamented the numerous errors that led to penalties more so than the physical mistakes, such as the Redskins’ three turnovers. The Redskins committed seven penalties, including three false starts.

“The lack of concentration is inexcusable,” Zorn said.

The Redskins took a 17-16 lead with less than four minutes remaining, completing a nine-point comeback the Rams soon erased with a 49-yard field goal by Josh Brown as time expired.

“I don’t think there was a lack of focus. We just made mistakes we hadn’t made throughout the season so far, and when you do make those mistakes it makes it really hard to win the ballgame,” right tackle Jon Jansen said. “We were lucky just to be in it at the end.”