Last Monday, Washington Redskins coach Jim Zorn expressed his displeasure with rookie punter Durant Brooks, saying he needed to improve the height, hang time and distance on his kicks.
Things didn’t improve Sunday for Brooks, a sixth-round draft choice.
Brooks’ 50-yard opening punt was by far his best of the day, and the home crowd booed him after several disappointing kicks. His final four punts went for 43, 35, 51 and 26 yards.
“We have to improve our punting, or we’re going to be in trouble every game,” Zorn said after the Redskins’ 19-17 loss Sunday to the St. Louis Rams. “Either we bring in another punter to compete and see how that works, or we take the punter we do have - and he’s a young guy - and get him maturing very quickly.”
Brooks’ inconsistency has reached a point where the Redskins might explore working out several punters Monday or Tuesday.
A team source said no decision on working out punters will be made until after the coaches and front office members conduct their weekly Monday morning meetings.
One thing working in Brooks’ favor: Few proven punters are available.
“We’re doing the things it’s going to take,” Zorn said. “We felt like he really did improve this week in practice, but you have to play under pressure. It’s that whole thing about poise under pressure. We’ll address that absolutely.”
Brooks entered the game with the worst net average (31.6 yards) of the NFL’s active punters. His season net actually went up Sunday to 32.1 yards.
“They didn’t like the looks of them,” Brooks said of the boos. “They didn’t look good, but the results of the first three were good, actually. …
“[The coaches] are going to do what they need to do. I can’t worry about that. It’s hard not to, but if you start thinking about things like that, you can get worse and worse.”
Injury report
The Redskins reported five injuries after the game: knee sprains for left tackle Chris Samuels, running back Ladell Betts and receiver James Thrash and injuries to cornerback Fred Smoot (groin) and safety Chris Horton (ankle).
Samuels was injured in the first half and went to the locker room early but returned to play.
Betts said he has an MRI scheduled for Monday but doesn’t think the injury is serious; he could put all his weight on it after the game.
Taylor, Washington play
Jason Taylor returned after missing two games following emergency calf surgery Sept. 22, but the veteran defensive end wasn’t happy with his four tackles, one of which was for a loss.
“My calf feels OK, but we’ll have to see how it feels tomorrow,” Taylor said. “All I know is I played [lousy].”
Strongside linebacker Marcus Washington, who missed two of the previous four games with a tender hamstring, was credited with eight tackles, his most since the 2007 opener.
“I just gave it a chance to rest, and I think that’s all it needed,” Washington said. “A hamstring’s one of those things you can’t fight through it. You’ve just got to let nature take its course, and when it’s ready to go, it’s ready to go.”
Washington reclaimed his starting spot from H.B. Blades, but cornerback Shawn Springs, who returned from a week off with a strained calf, remained behind Fred Smoot opposite Carlos Rogers. Springs had three tackles and a sack.
Defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin didn’t practice much last week after spraining his right shoulder Sept. 15 in Philadelphia but started against the Rams. Griffin made one tackle.
Portis’ hat trick
Running back Clinton Portis came on strong in the fourth quarter to finish with 129 yards on 21 carries. Portis’ third straight 100-yard day gave him his longest such streak since he finished 2005 with five 100-yard performances.
Portis extended his team record for 100-yard games to 22.
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