Redskins’ Marshall Says He Does as Asked : Pro Football: A lucrative free-agent contract has brought unwanted scrutiny to the former Pro Bowl linebacker.

When outside linebacker Wilber Marshall left Monday night’s game with a migraine, Kurt Gouveia replaced him and kept chopping down Denver Broncos. After doing double takes in the film room, Washington Redskin coaches knew they had to insert Gouveia into the starting lineup. But not for Marshall.

Indications are that Gouveia will replace Greg Manusky at middle linebacker Sunday against the Chicago Bears, while Marshall will return to his familiar position. The move has something to do with Gouveia’s seven second-half tackles Monday night and something to do with Manusky’s ordinary play in the middle, but it’s also clear Washington’s linebackers have been under the coaching microscope.

As for Marshall, his every move has been followed since his arrival from the Bears as a $6 million free agent in 1988. The constant scrutiny is like a ball and chain to him. His public and his peers around the league expect him to be in a sack race with Lawrence Taylor, yet Taylor is essentially a standup defensive end while Marshall is asked to sometimes blitz, sometimes play the run, sometimes play the pass.

The relevant question is whether he regrets joining the Redskins, because he was starting to become a Pro Bowl regular in Chicago. At times he shows hints of unhappiness, and there also are some leaguewide who consider him misused in the Redskins’ defensive scheme.

Considering the team paid him as much as a quarterback, it was slightly alarming last year when he started leaving the game in passing situations. Defensive coaches say it was due to matchups -- Marshall was excellent at covering big tight ends, but Monte Coleman was superior at handling running backs or wide receivers.

Certainly, the Chicago days are long over, and even some Bears players have wiped Marshall from their minds. “Wilber’s gone and forgotten here in Chicago,” quarterback Mike Tomczak said this week. “I’ll be honest with you.”

Bears Coach Mike Ditka’s point of view is that Chicago’s defensive coaches had a different scheme from Washington’s.

With the Bears, who played that fabled Buddy Ryan “46” defense with extra linebackers, Marshall often lined up uncovered by blockers and was free to pursue, which is his strength. He blitzed more freely too.

Washington, however, deploys its outside linebackers almost identically, whether it’s Gouveia or Marshall. No one blitzes all the time, because the defense is designed to shock the offense.

“He’s a good linebacker; there’s nothing wrong with Wilber,” defensive coach Richie Petitbon said this week. “The only problem is the expectations are too high because of all the money he makes. Money has nothing to do with it. That’s the only problem.

“Everyone expects him to hit 60 home runs.”

Marshall is not the sort to complain, though every once in a while he’ll grumble that his peers spend too much time looking at sack totals.

When he signed with the Redskins, he said the five-year, $6 million contract was undoubtedly the major factor. At the time it was the league’s most lucrative contract for a defensive player. He also liked the fact the Redskins were winners.

“When I first came here, I just thought they’d do what they had to do with me,” Marshall said. “They paid me a lot of money to do what they wanted me to do. So I will. That’s the name of the game -- even though other people wanted me blitzing all the time.

“They’ve already said they brought Wilber in just to play the run defense. And I think the run defense has gotten better. ... The reason they brought me in was because they had two great outside rushers (Charles Mann and Dexter Manley) and they didn’t really need another blitzer. That’s how I felt anyway.

“So all I needed was to make tackles. I think I have about 80 right now (he has 79). I’m right on pace as having the same thing I had last year, and I thought last year was better than the year before, when I was with the Bears. The thing is, if you don’t win, people think, ‘Okay, he should be doing this and that.’ ”

His last year in Chicago, he made 93 tackles, 53 solo. His first year in Washington, he made 134 tackles, 79 solo. His sacks were at four last year -- his best year in Chicago was 5.5 -- and this year he has two. He had three interceptions last year; this year he has one.

But he also has played with a sore shoulder -- he’s told few people about it -- and also with the burden of having ill parents. His mother underwent neck surgery in Florida the night of the Broncos game. His father was believed to have brain cancer, before an operation showed otherwise.

“I don’t want to make that as an excuse, please,” he said.

In Washington, coaches have asked him to stay in his lanes, not to improvise. It’s all scheme. He continues to lead all linebackers in tackles, and only Ravin Caldwell has more sacks (three).

“In the league these days, they’re moving defensive ends to linebackers and calling them linebackers, and they blitz them every down,” Marshall said. “That’s what people want to see -- sacks. I have to forfeit that because ... of what they want me to be here.

“What I feel is if they want me to just tackle, I’m happy. Because there’s not too many other people in this world in the NFL that can have the opportunity to make the money and still play football. So I don’t feel bad about not blitzing. I just want to win.

“Am I frustrated? No. Would you be frustrated making the money I’m making?”