Donovan McNabb felt a surge of adrenaline as he headed onto FedExField against the Buffalo Bills on Friday night.

This was his debut as a Redskin.

On the Redskins' first offensive possession, McNabb converted a 3rd-and-8 pass to Chris Cooley, but his next two throws were off the mark and the drive ended quietly.

Settle down, McNabb told himself.

Next series, he found his rhythm, guiding the offense downfield with several nice throws.

He capped the drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Anthony Armstrong, who lunged across the goal line for the score.

It was the Redskins' first points of the a 42-17 preseason rout of the Bills.

"When you play your first game, obviously, with a new ball club, it takes you back to the first game you played," McNabb said. "Your adrenaline is high and you have to settle down a little bit.

"The second time we went out, after our first drive, it led to us putting up some points. Good things happened. There are a lot of things we have to work on, but I thought offensively we were able to progress."

McNabb played two series and completed 5-of-8 passes for 58 yards and one touchdown.

He established a quick connection with tight end Chris Cooley, who caught three passes from McNabb for 33 yards.

Through the offseason and into training camp, McNabb maintained that football was football and that there would not be a significant difference between leading the Redskins and leading the Philadelphia Eagles.

That view changes on Friday night.

"When I came out of the tunnel, it really hit me that, obviously, it is a new uniform, new scenery and a new team," McNabb said. "The exciting thing about it is that guys came in here just excited. Everybody wanted to see everybody get out there and make plays in game situations. I think we were able to show that."