FS:Camp competition

[scskinsfan]

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2004/082004/08012004/1450364

Camp competition

Redskins training camp: Brunell, Ramsey begin battle for starting QB job

By ADAM HIMMELSBACH

Date published: 8/1/2004

ASHBURN--The two quarterbacks stood side by side on the freshly mowed field, each with his fingers wrapped around a football.

Together, they took five quick steps backward and rifled 20-yard passes. Then Mark Brunell and Patrick Ramsey completed the drill again. Brunell ****ing his left arm, Ramsey his right.

Brunell scampering on 33-year-old legs, Ramsey on tree trunks eight years younger.

They looked similar enough beneath their helmets and shoulder pads. Both strong and graceful. Both about 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds. Both tougher than an old steak.

They've known each other for only a few months now. They've become friends and learned from each another. They also know that one's success will be the other's failure.

As the Washington Redskins' training camp got under way yesterday, Brunell and Ramsey kicked off what figures to be a five-week audition to become the team's starting quarterback.

"Both of us want to have a good relationship regardless of the outcome," Ramsey said yesterday, his phonebook-thick playbook sitting nearby. "That's the primary factor in this. We want to have a good relationship, and I'm certain we will."

Last season Ramsey seemed ready to cement himself as the Redskins' quarterback of the future. The second-year gunslinger from Tulane averaged 296 passing yards over the first three games of the year and tossed five touchdowns against just two interceptions.

But former coach Steve Spurrier's much-maligned blocking schemes left Ramsey in harm's way.

The offensive line protected Ramsey the same way a broken umbrella protects you in a storm.

Ramsey was sacked 30 times in the season's first 11 games and then missed the last five games with a broken bone in his right foot.

"It took me longer to heal up after that season than it did after any other," Ramsey said.

When Joe Gibbs returned for his second stint as Redskins coach this past offseason, he wanted a veteran quarterback to lean on.

Brunell had just finished a frustrating, let-me-out-of-here season with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He suffered an elbow laceration in the Jaguars' third game and ceded the reins to rookie quarterback Byron Leftwich.

When Brunell was finally cleared to play, the Jaguars elected to keep their eight-year starter on the bench.

In February, the Redskins acquired Brunell from Jacksonville in return for a future third-round draft pick. Washington then signed the signal-caller to a seven-year, $42 million contract.

"Considering I probably wasn't going to get on the field in Jacksonville," Brunell said, "yeah, I needed this change."

While Gibbs said he expects the quarterback duel to stretch to the final week of preseason, Brunell seems to be the early favorite. He was called to work with the first team during yesterday's opening drills and was accurate and able throughout the afternoon.

"The first day in pads always feels a little awkward," Brunell said. "The quarterbacks have to get used to the centers. Everybody has to get used to hitting. It may take a couple of days, but we've been doing this for a while, so it won't take long."

Even though he's eight years older, Brunell is the more mobile of the two. Ramsey, however, has the advantage of having spent a season working with the Redskins' receiving corps.

Ramsey said he has no ill effects from last season's foot injury and feels increasingly comfortable in the pocket.

"They're both physically right where you'd want them," Gibbs said. "Every pass that we chart is starting to show us things."

The Redskins wideouts were not playing favorites yesterday. They just want someone who can deliver the ball and deliver it well. The receivers would like to find out who the No. 1 quarterback is so they can adjust their styles accordingly.

"Mark's left-handed, so you need to know what you're doing on his side, because the ball's going to twist different," wideout Darnerien McCants said. "Patrick's got a little country twang to him, so you've got to listen to his snap count a little different."

Both Brunell and Ramsey understand that one will be starting the season on the bench. It's a role both would rather avoid, but it's also a role both are ready to accept.

For now, they'll keep learning from each other and taking each day as it comes.

"If I ask Mark something, he's always very open to helping me out," Ramsey said. "There are also little details that I'll help him with. It's not anything where either one of us is going to be selfish and say, 'Hey, I'm going to keep information from you so I can win the job.'"

To reach ADAM HIMMELSBACH: 540/374-5442 ahimmelsbach@freelancestar.com

Date published: 8/1/2004