Trent Green rolls out to pass against the Giants. (The Post)

By Mark Maske
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 7, 1998; Page A1

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Sept. 6 – Gus Frerotte walked out of the visitors' locker room at Giants Stadium early this evening with his left arm in a sling and his job as the Washington Redskins' starting quarterback in serious jeopardy.

The Redskins' season of high hopes began in nightmarish fashion when a third-quarter meltdown by Frerotte helped hand the New York Giants a 31-24 triumph here this afternoon in the National Football League season opener for each team.

Frerotte left the game in the third quarter with a sprained left shoulder, but even if he is healthy by next Monday night for the Redskins' home opener against the San Francisco 49ers, he likely will be standing on the sideline at the outset of the game.

Coach Norv Turner declined to make it official and name Trent Green the Redskins' new starting quarterback.

But Turner, even after sticking with Frerotte longer than some others on the Redskins' sideline wanted, apparently had all but made his decision to switch to Green for the next game before leaving the locker room today. He probably will make that announcement Monday.

Green, who never had completed a pass in a regular season game before today, might well have won the starting job by completing 17 of 25 passes for 208 yards. He had a fumble that led to a Giants touchdown but threw a pair of touchdown passes to more than offset that mistake.

Green "made a bunch of plays," Turner said. "Gus, I think, in the first half threw the ball accurately and made some plays. Trent gives you a little more mobility when a team is overpowering you, like New York was, with the rush. So obviously it's something we have to look at."

Turner promised "a quick decision," and said, "I'm going to do, at any position, what it takes for this football team to win. I've got to take a long, hard look at the quarterback position and make a decision early in the week."

Frerotte, who left the locker room without speaking to reporters, is scheduled to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam Monday to determine the severity of his shoulder injury.

Redskins officials said Frerotte also was woozy. The Giants sacked him five times, and on the final one, in the third quarter, Frerotte had the back of his head slammed into the artificial turf. Green took over on the following series and nearly pulled out a win.

Green was inserted into the game only because veteran backup Jeff Hostetler was sidelined by a knee injury. Hostetler has vowed to be available for the San Francisco game.

"When Trent came in, he changed the tempo," Giants defensive end Michael Strahan said. "He's a little more mobile. Gus was fading a little bit. His passes weren't that crisp. We felt like we had the upper hand on him in his head."

Frerotte completed eight of his 12 passes for 93 yards and had a solid first half in which he made a fine throw to Leslie Shepherd for a 17-yard touchdown and had a long touchdown pass to Michael Westbrook called back because of a holding penalty. But he showed in the third quarter why his grasp on the starting quarterback job seemed so tenuous even before the season began. He made the big mistakes that cost the Redskins the game.

With the score tied 10-10, the Redskins began their first possession of the second half at their own 5-yard line. Turner called a play that had Frerotte passing out of the end zone, and the quarterback wasn't under any pressure as Shepherd ran deep down the sideline. But Frerotte didn't get the ball anywhere close to Shepherd.

Giants cornerback Phillippi Sparks dove for the pass and juggled the ball. Conrad Hamilton, the other cornerback, made a diving interception on the carom, got up and returned the ball to the Redskins 2-yard line to set up the go-ahead touchdown. In trying to tackle Hamilton, Frerotte hurt his shoulder.

"The big play and the turning point has to be the interception," Turner said. "From our own five, we are going to take a shot. We have maximum protection [by the offensive line] and it should never turn into a turnover. You should never have a sack, fumble or interception on that play. If you don't have a play you're comfortable with there, you throw the ball out of bounds and if we punt, we punt."

Green warmed up on the sideline, but Frerotte remained in the game. On a second-and-nine play from the Washington 21 on the next series, he was looking for tight end Jamie Asher. But Strahan stepped in front of Asher for an interception and returned the ball 24 yards for a touchdown and a 24-10 Giants' advantage.

Still, Frerotte remained in the game, but had his day ended on the following series. He was sacked by Strahan on second down and reinjured his shoulder when he was rammed to the turf by defensive linemen Chad Bratzke and Keith Hamilton on third down for another sack.

"The two interceptions were poor decisions [and] poor throws," Turner said. "We give them 14 points there.

"The interceptions, I'd like to think those would have been eliminated a long time ago. The first one was just a horrible decision. If you don't like the deep ball, you throw the ball up in the stands and you keep playing."

The first half provided some encouraging signs for the Redskins because Frerotte appeared to regain his Pro Bowl touch of 1996. He completed his first four passes and got the ball to Shepherd for a touchdown midway through the first quarter after the wide receiver outmaneuvered Conrad Hamilton to get open in the corner of the end zone.

Frerotte was 8 for 10 in the first half. But that was undone by his third-quarter mistakes.

Said Redskins defensive tackle Dana Stubblefield: "Trent came in and gave us a lift."

Asked who should be the team's starting quarterback now, Stubblefield steered clear.

"It doesn't really matter to me," he said.