Earlier this week, I talked with Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman about the Redskins in general and quarterback Jason Campbell in particular. Here are the leftover nuggets that didn't make it into the paper.

*On Jim Zorn's play calling:

"He's been terrific the last two weeks calling games. I go back to the Arizona game when they had a seven-point lead with four or five minutes to go. The clock at that point is the only enemy you got. There are a lot of coaches that would focus on one thing -- run the ball. But Jim called some pass plays and Jason was smart in knowing that he didn't need 12 yards, but 4 or 5 yards to keep the clock running. It takes a lot for a play caller to have the guts to do that. Jim has called games to win instead of not to lose and Jason has responded very favorably to that."

*On whether he was surprised Zorn and Campbell have clicked to quickly:

"I am surprised. A guy whose a head coach for the first time and calling plays for the first time. We've seen guys like Mike Holmgren, Mike Shanahan, Norv Turner, Jon Gruden -- those types of coaches -- who called plays before becoming a head coach. Jim has a big load to absorb. Anytime a coach comes in with a new scheme, it's always said they have to sell it to the players. I don't know if that's the case. It's about showing and the players saying, 'I'll decide whether it's good for us.' It's more about the players understand that this guy is bring something that will make the team better."

*On Campbell being able to go through his progression:

"The whole notion of locking in on a receiver, sometimes you have to do that. When I was watching Jason, there were times on his front side, on the bounddry, he really wanted to throw it and he waited as long as he could. For him to get off that and immediately come to his back side -- bypassing the second guy -- that does get better the longer you're in the game and the more you see coverages. But for him to be doing it so early within this system is pretty impressive. I couldn't be more impressed with the waya he played last week."

*On Clinton Portis:

"I said it last year that he was my favorite player to watch and you should have seen the letters and emails I got. Cowboy fans did not like hearing that so I softened it last week and said he may be one of my favorite players to watch. I think the guy's unbelievable. He works his tail offf. I don't think the fans get a true appreciation for how hard he works without the ball in his hands. I never see him take plays off."

*On whether he had a defining win early in his career like Campbell's win in Dallas could turn into:

"The first game like that for me was probably when we played the Rams in 1990 when they were still in Anaheim. We weren't very good at the time -- 3-7 and the Rams were really good. We went in and beat them and when we were winning Super Bowls, we always pointed to that game. We wound up winning four in a row to make it to 7-7 before losing our last two and missing the playoffs. The Redskins hadn't enjoyed much success in Dallas and for them to come in against a good football team, it goes a long, long way and just validates everything they're doing."

*On the Redskins' offensive skilled players:

"The teams that have great success, they have that third guy that can make some things happen for them. Santana Moss is a big-play guy and then Antwaan Randle El can do some really good things and people have to pay attention to him. Then you say, what about Chris Cooley? Cooley is a lot like Jason Witten. If the Redskins had only Santana and Clinton, it would catch up to them. But they have more than them."

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