“I suspect he’ll be there,” Zorn said of Washington, “but it’s gonna be a wait and see up until the end. … I’m not concerned. He’s worked his way back. But I was optimistic with Shawn Springs last week, too.”

Springs did not play in the opener vs. the Giants.

Tight end Chris Cooley (quad) participated early in practice then was sidelined during team drills. The Redskins expect him to play.

» Zorn wants to improve the hands of his defensive backs, with help from his quarterbacks. So he devised a drill for them yesterday. He had each defensive back stand with his back turned, about 10 yards from a row of quarterbacks. Then he’d turn, run side to side and haul in passes. Each got five throws.

The worst? Fred Smoot, who dropped three of the first 10 passes thrown to him. After he dropped his third, he slammed a ball to the ground.

Finally, on his third set, he caught all five. Carlos Rogers, noted for his bad hands, caught each of the five passes. Justin Hamilton and Chris Horton were the only other ones to drop a pass, each letting one fall.

The secondary dropped four potential interceptions vs. the Giants. Ironically, Smoot had the lone interception.

QB WATCH » Jason Campbell


The Redskins can help Campbell by focusing on getting him into a rhythm early vs. New Orleans. One way they can do that is by emphasizing shorter, quicker passes. That way he can develop some confidence, get some yardage and keep the Saints, who like to blitz, off his back. Campbell did well throwing these routes in the no-huddle last year. After he gets his rhythm, and if the Saints’ rush is slowed, Campbell will be able to look long.

Opposing player to watch » David Patten • WR • Saints


Patten battled bad knees in Washington, never showing what he could do. He’s showing them in New Orleans. Patten is an explosive player for the Saints, a deep threat who caught a 39-yard touchdown pass in the opening win over Tampa Bay. Patten caught 54 passes for 792 yards and three touchdowns for the Saints last season. He caught 23 passes in 14 games with Washington and was cut after the 2006 season.

Outside the Beltway


» As much as the Saints will miss [Marques] Colston, who led them with 98 catches for 1,202 yards and 11 touchdowns last season, they are probably as well equipped to absorb his loss as any team in the NFL. Their offense is deep and versatile, as was evidenced in the 24-20 victory over Tampa Bay, which included long touchdown passes to receivers David Patten, Devery Henderson and tailback Reggie Bush, as well as some clutch third-down conversions to tight end Jeremy Shockey.

— Mike Triplett (New Orleans Times-Picayune)

» Four of the Saints’ five pass breakups came from newcomers, led by rookie corner Tracy Porter, who made the kind of fearless, on-an-island, single-coverage deflections this defense has sorely lacked in recent seasons. Porter’s play powered a strong effort by the secondary. Porter, Randall Gay and Aaron Glenn, all offseason acquisitions, were stellar in the absence of starter Mike McKenzie, who was sidelined with a knee injury.

— Jeff Duncan (New Orleans Times-Picayune)

» This should be a more favorable matchup for the Redskins than the Week 1 matchup against the Giants because the Saints are much less physical. It will be interesting to see whether the Saints are as good and the Redskins are as bad as they seemed to be in their openers. But this should be a better matchup than the raw statistics would suggest.

— Scouts Inc.

» Look, [Jim] Zorn is going to have some growing pains and to run their West Cast offense, you need big WRs. They drafted two in Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas but they both got hurt in camp. Plus, O-line is a little shaky.

— Chris Mortensen (ESPN)

» Two good things came from their victory over the Bucs: Reggie Bush was a factor and the defense was improved.

– Pete Prisco, who ranked the Saints third this week. (CBS Sportsline)

» New Orleans head coach Sean Payton is openly giddy at times with all the big-play weapons on his roster, and nearly all paid dividends against the Bucs. Better yet, the Saints’ defense showed more toughness, which they’ll need in a competitive NFC South.

– Adrian Hasenmayer ranked the Saints 11th (Foxsports.com)