New QB, same offense

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Air Campbell will not be landing at Redskin Park anytime soon.

New Washington Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell possesses the strong arm, young legs and big body deposed starter Mark Brunell lacks. And, yes, Campbell's first pass Sunday was a gorgeous strike that soared about 60 yards downfield to wide receiver Brandon Lloyd, who dropped the ball.

That beautiful bomb, however, did not signal a shift to a wide-open, long-ball strategy.

It was, Campbell said, just a case of Lloyd being in man-to-man coverage.

"You've got to get the right defense for that stuff," Campbell said yesterday, one day after delivering a solid debut performance in a 20-17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. "That's when you try to take your shots because you don't get those kind of looks that often."

The Redskins won't suddenly summon memories of the gunslinging AFL of Joe Namath, Daryle Lamonica and Len Dawson. Campbell distributed the ball in essentially the same pattern as the weak-armed Brunell.

Campbell threw 18 of his 34 passes to wideouts. In Brunell's last start, the 36-year-old threw 17 of his 30 passes to wideouts, a slightly higher ratio. Campbell completed seven of those throws for 84 yards, Brunell just five for 64 yards.

"We're going to run our offense whether Jason's the quarterback or Mark's the quarterback," tight end Chris Cooley said. "If Jason chooses to throw the ball downfield, that's what will happen. It was the same kind of game plan."

Coach Joe Gibbs agreed there wasn't a "radical difference" with Campbell taking the snaps.

Other statistics bear that out: Cooley and running back Ladell Betts each caught a team-high 16 passes over Brunell's final five starts. Each caught five passes from Campbell on Sunday, again the most on the team.