During Redskins mini-camp, wide receiver Santana Moss talked about the development of third-year quarterback Jason Campbell this offseason. He spoke with Redskins.com and media after a recent mini-camp practice:
Q: How much has Jason Campbell changed from last year to this year?
A: "The confidence is evident. Everyone [at mini-camp] sees the confidence that he has. I think that, as an individual, when you have confidence, no matter what you do, you are that much better at what you're doing. I think that if you're just walking, you have to have confidence in your walk. Just watching Jason, you can tell when someone is thinking, and I think last year he did a lot of thinking. You didn't get to see the Jason that you wanted to see. Now you're seeing a guy who pretty much knows everything and he's confident in his throws. He's confident in the guys that are out there to catch the ball."
Q: What do you want to see from Jason Campbell?
A: "You draft a guy, watching what he did in college, and then you say, 'I want him to be that same guy that I watched his senior year in college.' But when you're sitting behind someone for a year and a half, and you put him out there and you say now show me that--it's hard to see that. A lot of players don't understand that you have to get out there and get the repetitions in the game atmosphere to be yourself. You can't go out there and practice and say, 'I have this game wrapped up.' You go out there and see a whole different speed. You see guys running at you and don't know right from wrong--it's kind of hard to be who they want you to be. So last year didn't do anything but help him with his growth, and that's what we're going to see this year."
Q: Do you think confidence translates to winning?
"Yes. You see most of the confident players, from quarterbacks to any sport--basketball, baseball--you see the guys that go up there with a swagger, who know that they put in all the work that they could to be who they are and they're going to go out there and do it. That helps them be that much more of a [leader] for that team. And that team thrives off of that because when the team sees that and feels that, you have everyone excited. They're that much more confident in you and it translates to what they do that day."
Q: The Redskins have had a lot of quarterback changes the last 10 years. How welcome is the stability that Jason Campbell can potentially bring to this franchise?
A: "Every team wants that, and I think that in due time, I think that the guys that we have--even behind Jason--can do the job. But it's Jason's show right now, and with it being his show he has to know that, regardless of what decisions he makes out there, that we're going to ride with it, we're going to be there for him--and that's all you need. When you have a guy that is going to go out there and say, 'You know what, I'm either going to make this play or not, then you're sure that the next time, if he doesn't make that play, he's going to come back and try to do better. That's what every team needs in their leader, in their quarterback."
Q: You and Jason have talked about getting together and working on the passing game outside of a controlled environment like mini-camp. Why do you think that's important?
A: "I think that any time you can get away with him from this kind of atmosphere, but working on the same things that you're working on out here, it's great because you can form a bond. He can get a sense of what type of guy you are, what moves you're going to make on certain routes, and just get a feel of you. I think that he's getting that feel already, but when you get away, when we just talk to him on one on one, when he doesn't have coaches telling him one thing, then we can just be in his ear letting him know what we think on certain routes. That way, we're on the same page, and then we can be that far ahead of where we were last year."
