Heath Who? Frerotte Leads Redskins, 41-27 : Interconference: Rookie quarterback, with help from Ellard and other veterans, delivers victory over Colts.

INDIANAPOLIS — His veteran teammates made Gus Frerotte’s first NFL start look easy.

Frerotte, the 197th player taken in this year’s draft and starting in place of injured first-round pick Heath Shuler, passed for 226 yards and two touchdowns Sunday as the Washington Redskins defeated the Indianapolis Colts, 41-27.

“I wasn’t real nervous. I was a little shaky at first,” said Frerotte, who fumbled a snap on the first possession. “Anybody’s going to be nervous in their first NFL start. After that fumble, though, things seemed to settle down and I played well after that.

“I just have to give credit to everybody around me,” the rookie from Tulsa added. “They played great games. The line did a great job and the receivers were catching the ball. You can’t ask for more than that. I just put it where I was supposed to.”

Henry Ellard, the NFC leader in reception yardage, caught six of Frerotte’s passes for 108 yards and set up the first of two touchdown runs by Ricky Ervins. Then pass interceptions off the Colts’ Jim Harbaugh by Martin Bayless and Andre Collins--and one off backup Don Majkowski by Lamont Hollinquest--led to three more scores as the Redskins (2-6) ended a five-game losing streak.

“I thought they would come more (on blitzes),” Frerotte said. “But we were ready for anything, I think. We were prepared to take the blitz on, and they didn’t bring it.”

Last year, the Redskins ended a six-game slide with a 30-24 victory over the Colts at Washington.

Ellard, the former Ram signed as a free agent this year, is eighth in reception yardage with 10,539.

“I didn’t have to tell him anything,” the 12-year veteran said. “We were talking about certain routes, but everything was going well. It wasn’t like we had to talk about it, just execute.”

Four of Ellard’s receptions were for at least 19 yards. Frerotte also connected with Tydus Winans on a 51-yard pass play that set up Chip Lohmiller’s first field goal.

“The offensive line did a great job getting Gus enough time to sit back, take his reads and throw the ball,” Ellard said. “He was a little nervous (after the fumble), but you couldn’t notice it really in the huddle, because he’s a quiet, laid-back kind of guy.”

Colt Coach Ted Marchibroda was understandably annoyed at the Colts’ inability to stop Frerotte. “Washington played a smart football game. I don’t feel a rookie quarterback should score that many points against us. And I think we gave him some of those points,” he said.

“Our initial thought was to put some pressure on the kid, put it on him early. But we were unable to do so. They did a good job picking the blitz up, and he wasn’t rushed, he stood in the pocket well and made the throws he had to make.”

Frerotte was 17 of 32 with no sacks and no interceptions.

Indianapolis (3-5) helped Washington with two pass interference penalties in the end zone, both setting up touchdowns.