NEWS & NOTES: REDSKINS-JETS
A pair of Mississippi quarterbacks--Jason Campbell and Brett Favre--will face off on Saturday night in preseason.
Campbell first met Favre one summer in the late 1990s when he was a senior at Taylorsville High School in Taylorsville, Miss., about 100 miles from Kiln, Miss., where Favre grew up.
Favre, 12 years older than Campbell, was working out at a local gym in Hattiesburg, Miss., where Favre now resides during the offseason. Young Campbell arrived for a workout with the same trainer.
"Once Brett was finished, I had a chance to meet him and see him up close," Campbell said. "He gave me some words of encouragement before I headed off to college [at Auburn]. He is just a tremendous guy."
Campbell wanted to meet Favre again last summer.
So he went to his home in Hattiesburg unannounced and rang the call box at the front gate.
"I don't like imposing on people's privacy, but I just felt like I wanted to go down to speak to him," Campbell said. "I hadn't had the opportunity to talk to him in a while. He has a call box outside and I tried to get in touch with him.
"Unfortunately, he wasn't there."
How did two guys from small towns in Mississippi make it to the NFL?
"You have nothing else to do but sit outside and throw a football at trees," Campbell laughed. "That's how you work on your accuracy, knocking loose bark off of trees."
Redskins head coach Jim Zorn and new Jets quarterback Brett Favre share a mentor of sorts in current Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren.
Holmgren tutored both Zorn and Favre for seven seasons.
Favre and Holmgren joined Green Bay together in 1992 and won a Super Bowl in 1996 before Holmgren left for Seattle following the 1998 season.
Holmgren was joined in Seattle by Zorn in 2001, where Zorn served as quarterbacks coach until 2007.
-- Favre And the Redskins
Brett Favre has played in 279 games, including postseason, all with the Green Bay Packers. But Favre has faced the Redskins on only five occasions, including four starts with Green Bay and one relief effort as a rookie for the Atlanta Falcons.
Favre threw his first NFL pass on Nov. 10, 1991, against Washington as a member of the Falcons. He finished the game 0-for-4 in a 56-17 loss to the Redskins.
Despite winning all four of his career starts against the redskins, the three-time NFL Most Valuable Player is 70-of-118 (59.3 percent) for 802 yards with four touchdowns and eight interceptions for a 62.9 passer rating. The passer rating is the second-worst among the 31 NFL opponents he has faced.
The New York Jets will be breaking in Brett Favre against the Redskins, but he is not the team's only major addition.
Guard Alan Faneca has earned seven consecutive trips to the Pro Bowl as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers before signing with Jets this past offseason.
Right tackle Damien Woody has played for two Super Bowl championship teams (New England Patriots in 2001 and 2003) and started 125 career games. He played for the Detroit Lions last year.
Fullback Tony Richardson has played 14 NFL seasons with 106 starts, rushing for 1,601 yards and 15 touchdowns. In 2007, he earned his third consecutive Pro Bowl as a member of the Minnesota Vikings.
Tight end Bubba Franks has amassed 256 catches and 32 touchdowns in an eight-year career with the Green Bay Packers. He has earned three Pro Bowl appearances.
Defensive tackle Kris Jenkins has played in 85 games in seven seasons with the Carolina Panthers, recording 20.5 sacks and three blocked kicks.
Outside linebacker Calvin Pace has played in 67 games in five seasons for Arizona, logging 14 sacks, four forced fumbles and one interception.
-- Jason Taylor With the Redskins
Defensive end Jason Taylor is a familiar foe to the New York Jets. Taylor, who saw his first action as a Redskin in last Saturday's preseason game against Buffalo, competed against the Jets twice a year with the Miami Dolphins in the AFC East.
Taylor has 16.5 career sacks against the Jets. He has sacked current Jets backup quarterback Kellen Clemens twice.
Taylor has sacked Brett Favre three times, including twice in a Green Bay-Miami matchup in October 2006.
The Redskins traded with the Dolphins to acquire the six-time Pro Bowler on July 20.
Taylor's 117 sacks are the most among all NFL active players and rank 14th all-time in NFL history.
(The NFL sack leader is former Bills and Redskins defensive end Bruce Smith, who leads with an even 200 sacks. Smith played in Buffalo from 1985-99 and Washington from 2000-03.)
Santana Moss and Laveranues Coles were traded for each other in March 2005. The results?
Since 2005, Moss has played 44 games with 200 catches for 3,081 yards and 18 touchdowns. He sat a Redskins franchise record in 2005 with 1,483 receiving yards.
In the same span, Coles has played 44 games for the Jets with 219 catches for 2,589 yards and 17 touchdowns.
-- Remembering the ?Jet-Skins'
Offensive lineman Randy Thomas is the last of the so-called "Jet-Skins," the name given to the group of former Jets free agents the Redskins acquired in the 2003 offseason.
Thomas, Laveranues Coles, John Hall and Chad Morton all joined the Redskins that offseason.
The Redskins have two ex-Jets along the offensive line. Pete Kendall, a Jet from 2004-06, is expected to play at left guard. Jason Fabini, a Jet from 1998-2005, is expected to get snaps at right guard.
Khary Campbell, who played for the Jets from 2002-03 before joining the Redskins as a free agent, could draw the start at weak-side linebacker in place of Rocky McIntosh.
-- Redskins Preseason Offensive Leaders
In two preseason games, Jason Campbell leads the Redskins' passing attack with an 80 percent completion percentage. He has completed 12-of-15 passes for 132 yards and one touchdown.
Campbell's QB rating is 125.6, second-best on the team to Colt Brennan who is at 136.3. Brennan has completed 13-of-18 passes for 160 yards and two TDs.
Marcus Mason leads the Redskins' ground game with 178 yards on 34 carries, an impressive 5.2 yards-per-carry average. Mason also has three catches for 21 yards and a touchdown.
Billy McMullen leads the receivers with seven catches for 89 yards, including a 34-yard grab. Antwaan Randle El leads projected starters with four catches for 50 yards and a touchdown.
As a team, the Redskins are averaging 155 yards per game on the ground. They have converted 12-of-24 third-down conversions this preseason.
Jets reserve offensive lineman Will Montgomery, a second-year player out of Virginia Tech, visited Redskins Park in 2006.
Montgomery, a 6-3, 312-pound guard, took part in the team's pre-draft local college tryout day for rookies in 2006. He ended up being a seventh-round draft pick by the Carolina Panthers.
Montgomery played high school football at nearby Centreville High School in Clifton, Va. He was coached by current Redskins pro scout Don Warren.
The Redskins are 107-125-2 all-time in preseason play, including the Aug. 9 victory over the Buffalo Bills at FedExField.
Last year, Washington was 2-2 in the preseason.
After the Jets preseason game, the Redskins travel to Charlotte, N.C., to play the Carolina Panthers on Saturday, Aug. 23. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on Comcast SportsNet and WUSA TV Channel 9.
FAMILIAR FACES ON THE JETS
- Wide receiver Laveranues Coles played for the Redskins in 2003-04. He was acquired by the Redskins as a restricted free agent from the Jets in March 2003. He caught 172 passes and seven touchdowns in two seasons in Washington. His 90 receptions in 2004 rank as the third most in one season in franchise history.
- Linebacker David Bowens played one game for the Redskins in 2001.
- Offensive lineman Kyle DeVan spent the 2008 offseason with the Redskins but was released prior to training camp. DeVan is an undrafted rookie.
- Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer served as quarterbacks coach for the Redskins in 2001.
- Running backs coach Jimmy Raye served as offensive coordinator for the Redskins in 2001.
- Defensive quality control coach Andy Dickerson spent the 2003 season as an operations intern with the Redskins.
- Assistant general manager Scott Cohen spent 1993- 99 with the Redskins working his way up from intern to training camp director to scouting administrator to college scout.