A Gunner and a Target

Collins, who did not receive offers to be a clear-cut starter elsewhere, was primarily a backup in his first 13 seasons in the NFL. For the previous eight seasons (six with Kansas City, two with Washington) Collins worked in the offense of former Redskins play-caller Al Saunders, who was forced out in the staff shakeup after former coach Joe Gibbs retired.

His familiarity with Saunders's scheme undoubtedly helped Collins, who completed 63.8 percent of his passes for 888 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions during the winning streak. He had a 106.4 passer rating.

Throughout the streak and after Collins re-signed, Campbell answered a volley of questions about the surprising play of his backup. Campbell said he felt that some in the media unfairly portrayed Collins as the better quarterback, but "I have nothing against Todd. What he did last season is he came in and helped the team get to the playoffs. He was in Al Saunders's offense for a long enough time to understand the ins and outs of it."

In fairness to Campbell, Washington's offensive line, in a state of flux since early in the season a year ago because of injuries, played at its best during the winning streak, players said. And starting wide receivers Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle El were sound physically after having been hobbled for most of the season.

Campbell, who has had only 20 starts in his pro career, completed 60 percent of his passes with a 77.6 passer rating last season. He had 12 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions.

During a 34-3 victory over Detroit in Week 5, he completed 23 of 29 passes for 248 yards and two touchdowns and was named NFC offensive player of the week. Campbell passed for a career-high three touchdowns in Week 10 against Philadelphia and a personal-best 348 yards in Week 11 against Dallas.

"I won't ever talk about myself and say what I can do. I let other folks do that," Campbell said. "But [NFL] people tell me they've seen a lot of young quarterbacks play and they say I'm a step above. When they say things like that, it makes you feel positive about what you're doing in your development. And that's from some of the biggest people in the NFL. They don't tell you that unless they really mean it."

Some Redskins fans were alarmed by Campbell's critical quotes in assessing his performance after the first two days of training camp. On an Internet message board, fans posted comments about Campbell appearing to feel pressure. But Campbell has been confident and steady on the field, his teammates said.

"You can't stop JC from being the guy he is and JC is just hard on himself," Moss said. "Jerry Rice was hard on himself. Michael Jordan was hard on himself. As a quarterback, it's almost like you have no room for error at times."

Campbell played well in Sunday's 30-16 victory over Indianapolis in the Hall of Fame game. On the game's first possession, he teamed with Randle El on a 20-yard touchdown pass and finished the game 5 for 5 for 61 yards.

"He had poise in the pocket. He really kept the tempo up like we wanted," Zorn said. "He made a conscious effort to do those things for the whole time he was in there. As we move along in training camp and as we move along in the preseason, I think he's just going to get better and better and understand how quickly the game has to be played. He made a good start."

Washington will face Buffalo in its preseason home opener Saturday and Campbell knows his critics will be watching.

"I have all the confidence in the world in who I am and what I can do to help this team win," Campbell said. "I know that I'm the quarterback of this team and we can do great things. That's all I'm thinking about."