Quarterback facing a lot of heat entering Week 2
Jason Campbell knew what he had to do this past weekend. A tough first game for a still-proving-himself quarterback equals criticism. So he didn’t watch TV; he didn’t listen to the radio and he skipped reading the newspapers.
“I’ve been through it before,” he said, a nod to his first three years — unsuccessful ones — at Auburn.
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Say what you want about Campbell, but he handles success and failure the same way: with a calm demeanor. When Clinton Portis, standing by Campbell’s side during an interview, was jokingly asked which of them would be president and which would be vice president, Portis said, “I’m the VP. I want to be behind the scenes; let him get all the criticism and let me try to clean it up.”
To which Campbell replied, “It’s already going on.”
But Campbell, who was a pedestrian 15 of 27 for 133 yards vs. the Giants, understands the knocks come with the territory.
What he won’t do is let it upset him.
“You can’t go out there and play mad,” Campbell said. “If you play mad, then you’re doing it for the wrong reason, then you’re trying to prove a point instead of doing it within the offense to win the game. So I don’t think like that. I let it all stroll past. A couple weeks from now [critics] will be saying a different story.”
“He’s enthusiastic,” coach Jim Zorn said. “I don’t see him moping around or being depressed.”
His teammates know Campbell is far from the only one struggling. They’re all learning a new offense and there were a handful of mental mistakes along the line. Receivers are still learning to run routes the proper way as well.
Also, the playcalling needs to help Campbell more. Eight of the first 11 second-down plays vs. New York were runs. And of the 13 third downs, Washington faced third and 5 or more nine times.
“That was only our first game and people want to throw Jason under the bus?” Portis said. “All of a sudden he’s not ready, he can’t run this offense. … That was his first look at this offense. We can’t get down or listen to the outside world … I believe in him.”
Others do, too. Campbell received several text messages from ex-teammate, and current Saints backup, Mark Brunell over the past week. And Campbell knows it’ll take time to master an offense that takes other quarterbacks a while to fully grasp.
In the meantime, a lot of heat is directed at the quarterback.
“You have to have tough skin,” Campbell said. “You just have to stay positive and things will work itself out. You have to be patient.”
