Mike Shanahan admires Hunter Smith's honesty

Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan said he admired veteran punter Hunter Smith for accepting responsibility after the team's costly botched point-after attempt against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "I told Hunter, I said, 'Hey, I admired the way he stepped it up and blamed it on himself,' " Shanahan said after practice Wednesday at Redskins Park. "It was the combination of the snap and the hold. But Hunter's the type of guy that took full responsibility for it." The bottom line, however, was that Smith has not punted well recently, Shanahan said. The Redskins released Smith Tuesday and signed punter Sam Paulescu to punt and hold in the final three games. "The last 20 punts, I think he's had two that we consider the hang time that we want, so that's why we made the change," Shanahan said. "It had nothing to do with the hold."