When Washington or fellow starter Domonique Foxworth need a breather in training camp, Walker has been the player off the sideline.
"The way I look at it is, Fabian and Fox are on the outside and may run with the [first defense], but at any moment, if something happened, we have no fear of putting Frank in, and there's no drop-off," Pagano said. "We look at him as a starter."
Per Pagano's instructions, Walker spent the offseason working on his lateral movement and change-of-direction skills. Walker said he spent many hours running sideways through a rope ladder and even marching sideways up a steep hill in Atlanta.
Walker has not been getting as many repetitions at nickel back, as the coaches have tried to gauge Chris Carr's transition from the Tennessee Titans. For his part, Walker said he doesn't care where the coaches put him.
"It doesn't matter to me," Walker said. "I just want to be on the field. I'll try anything. At the end of the day, it's all the same. Nickel is a little harder, but at the end of the day, I'll take it all the same."
Despite Walker's on-field performance, his on-field antics have caught greater attention. More observers remember what he called his "slobber" incident with Steelers punter and holder Mitch Berger last December than his 3.9 grade-point average at Booker T. Washington High in Tuskegee, Ala., his business and marketing major at Tuskegee University and a charitable foundation, which hosts an annual football camp in Tuskegee, that he funds entirely by himself.
"I do things out of my heart and how they make me feel," he said. "I don't really do stuff for the accolades. I do stuff for the people I'm doing it for."
At the same time, Walker said he won't shy away from a good back-and-forth.
"If something presents itself, I definitely don't back down," he said. "If there's something said and I disagree, I will say, 'I disagree.' "
Defensive coordinator Greg Mattison said he doesn't mind Walker exchanging verbal barbs with opponents - within reason.
"I love enthusiasm out of every player - as long as it doesn't hurt the team," Mattison said. "But I love enthusiasm. It's too hard of a game not to be enthusiastic about it."
SECOND
PRESEASON GAME
Jets@Ravens, Monday, 8 p.m.
TV: Ch. 11, ESPN
Radio: 97.9 FM, 1090 AM
TODAY
Practices at 8:45 p.m. (open to public) and 2:45 p.m. (closed)
INSIDE
Pressure's on punter Koch PG 3
