Patrick Ramsey took all of the reps at Tuesday's practice and the third-year quarterback said he is preparing as if he will play for injured starter Mark Brunell in Monday night's game against the Dallas Cowboys.

"If Mark's ready, then I'm sure he'll go," Ramsey said.

Brunell reiterated on Tuesday that he was taking his hamstring injury "day to day" but added that he was optimistic he'd be able to play next Monday. His status will be reevaluated later this week.

"The best time for us to probably get a feel for it will be Thursday," head coach Joe Gibbs said. "He'll have had a couple days to rest."

For Ramsey, it would be his first start of the season--and his first since last November when his 2003 season ended due to a bone bruise in his right foot.

On Sunday, in his first appearance since off-season surgery on the foot, Ramsey struggled against the New York Giants, completing 9-of-18 passes for 142 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.

Ramsey said on Tuesday that he may have felt too much pressure to bring the Redskins back from a 20-7 second-half deficit.

"I didn't practice the patience I would have liked to," he said. "I think I felt a sense of urgency, even with about eight minutes to go with the score 20-14. I don't think it was necessary and I paid for it.

"Where I need to establish myself is knowing when enough is enough and throw the ball underneath or throw it away."

Head coach Joe Gibbs expressed confidence in Ramsey but needed to improve his consistency.

"Patrick can make all the throws," Gibbs said. "We just have to play all the way through a game and make real good decisions all the way through. We have a lot of confidence in him and we think he's part of our future here."

Gibbs said that he wanted the team to work on correcting errors in practice this week while focusing on the Cowboys.

"The only way to fix mistakes is in practice--and be real precise about it," he said. "It is a physical game and sometimes a lot of those things are split-second, and you don't have time to think about it or be prepared for it. It's where you put the ball as a passer and where you carry the ball as a runner. The best way to get yourself out of bad habits is practice, so we put a lot of emphasis on those things that gave us trouble."

For Ramsey, taking the bulk of reps this week in practice should help his comfort level behind center if he is called upon on Monday night.

"I ran some plays that I haven't actually run yet, some that we've had in for the last couple of weeks," Ramsey said. "So my comfort level can only get better."