Jason Campbell dropped back from center, taking his steps in a long, striding manner. He hitched once; he hitched twice, stepped to the right and then up into the pocket and then he unleashed a perfect pass to tight end Chris Cooley.
Except the quarterback shouldn’t have hitched so often. And he should have thrown the ball earlier. And it should have resulted in a longer pass than the near 50-yarder in this preseason game vs. Cincinnati.
Then, in his first start at Tampa Bay, he unleashed a long pass down the left sideline, just off a diving Brandon Lloyd’s fingertips. It was a beautiful throw; it was also one that, with proper mechanics, should have been easier to catch.
“He was performing last year on instincts and God-given ability,” Redskins offensive coordinator Al Saunders said.
Then he flicked on a different tape.
Inside the offensive meeting room at Redskins Park, Saunders pointed to the screen where Campbell, in a minicamp practice, resembled a new, or at least improved, quarterback. On this play, Campbell simply completed a four-yard out to Cooley. But it’s not the yards that mattered.
“See how more compact Jason is,” Saunders said. “See how he carries the ball; see how square his shoulders are. His read is excellent. There’s no windup there; the ball never falls below his elbow.”
It’s textbook.
“That’s the most growth I’ve ever seen in a player from where Jason was before I got hurt [last November] to now,” running back Clinton Portis said. “It’s night and day.”
“I feel different,” Campbell said, “totally different.”
The Redskins and Campbell know the second-year starter must thrive for them to think about the playoffs after a 5-11 season. In seven starts last year, Campbell completed 53.1 percent of his passes for 1,297 yards, 10 touchdowns and six interceptions.
“Last year I was learning the offense the same time as I was playing,” he said. “A lot of my throws now are totally different because my timing is better. On some throws last year I would wait on the receiver because I was unsure about everything I was doing. Now when you know the offense and you know where the receiver is supposed to be, it’s easier to throw to him.”
It’s also easier because he’s more polished. Saunders said the Redskins want him to improve his completion rate by 10 percent.
So they focused on his footwork, fixing everything from how he stood under center to how he dropped back. They changed how he held the ball, having him do so at shoulder level, reducing his windup.
Two weeks after the OTAs ended in early June, Saunders gave Campbell some homework. Each week, Campbell was given blank pictures. Saunders would give him a shift and a formation and a pass play and Campbell had to diagram it, putting in his progression and reads against a particular defense, letting them know he understood protection schemes and his responsibilities.
And they worked on his diction in the huddle.
“Early on, he was stumbling over words in the huddle,” Portis said. “He had a lot of uncertainty.”
To combat that, Campbell worked on his pronunciation of plays. He’d walk downfield and, simulating a no-huddle or two-minute situation, call out plays.
And his tone in the huddle improved, just like other parts of his game.
“If he can carry that over into the season, we have a good shot,” Portis said.
Which is why Campbell attacked the offseason the way he did.
“When you’ve got a million Redskins fans and your family and coaches and players counting on you,” he said, “that makes you want to work just as hard to make things great for them.”
When will it happen? That’s the question no one can answer.
“It’s an ongoing process,” Saunders said.
But he pointed to Campbell’s poise, his leadership ability, skill and work ethic. And, as he watched more tape of Campbell, Saunders considered the offseason and said, “You’ll see results.”
