'Skins Bench Struggling Frerotte

The new starting quarterback for the Washington Redskins smiled at the throng of cameras, wrung his hands and said he wanted the next seven days to proceed as normally as possible.

Good luck, Trent Green.

"I never would have predicted this," said Green, who will make his first NFL start at home on Monday Night against the San Francisco 49ers. "I prepared myself like it could happen, but to think this was going to happen, especially the second week of the season? No."

After Gus Frerotte self-destructed with consecutive interceptions Sunday that essentially gave New York its 31-24 victory, coach Norv Turner announced the quarterback switch Monday. He said it was a decision he would have made regardless of the health of Frerotte, who left the game with a sprained left shoulder and is expected to be in uniform as Green's backup against the 49ers.

"The highlight of the second half had to be Trent coming in and playing the way he did," Turner said. "Trent gave us a chance to win. He made a bunch of plays. He gave the offense a lift."

Green, who had just one play of NFL experience, completed 15 of his first 16 passes and brought the Redskins within seven points twice with two touchdown passes. His fumble under pressure -- one of eight sacks by New York -- set up the Giants' final TD, and he finished 17-for-25 for 208 yards as two potential tying drives came up short in the closing minutes.

"I'm goinmg to try as much as possible not to be uptight," said Green, whom Turner said would keep the job as long as he played well and the team won. "I've indicated to my family and friends to let's keep this week as normal as possible. I've talked to (the coaches) about keeping this thing normal and doing what we've been doing."

Before the season, Frerotte said he felt two bad games would be enough for him to get yanked in favor of Jeff Hostetler. As it turns out, it was just two bad throws. And with Hostetler recovering from a knee injury, the task falls to Green.

In fact, Frerotte had an outstanding first half: 8-for-10 with one pasdropped. His TD pass to Leslie Shepherd was perfect, as was another to Michael Westbrook that was called back by a holding penalty.

But, standing in his end zone with good protection early in the third quarter, Frerotte threw the ball into a quartet of blue jerseys for one interception and sprained his shoulder making the tackle near the goal line. His next pass went right to Michael Strahan, who returned it for a touchdown and the score had suddenly gone from 10-10 to 24-10.

"I think this in the long run will be good for Gus," Turner said. "He is really pressing."

After the second interception, middle linebacker Marvcus Patton gave Frerotte an intense sideline tongue-lashing before being restrained by two other players and an assistant coach. Two sacks later, his confidence gone and his shoulder reinjured, Frerotte was out of the game.

"That's a family thing," Patton said. "I don't want to say much about it. We just all want to win, that's all."

Turner defended Patton, saying that "even though it doesn't look like it, everything he was doing was offering encouragement. I know that's hard to believe."

The selection of a player making minimum wage over one with an $18 million contract isn't unusual for Turner. He did a similar thing in 1994 when he first started seventh-round rookie Frerotte, who eventually beat out "Bonus Baby" Heath Shuler.

"I'm not a believer in rallying points," Turner said. "If Trent can make the type of plays he did in the Giants game, then that can make the difference in winning and losing."

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