ASHBURN, Va. -- When Mark Brunell entered the Washington
Redskins' huddle after Patrick Ramsey's injury, the first thing he
did was lighten the mood.
"He always calls himself the old guy," center Casey Rabach
said. "He says, 'All right guys, the old guy's in here, we might
need a little more protection,' something like that."
Later, Brunell waved at himself when he appeared on the
stadium's giant scoreboard, then did a little jig in the huddle to
the music used by the "Funky Four," a group of Redskins band
members who dance on the field at the end of the third quarter.
"Mark's always good for something like that," H-back Chris
Cooley said. "He's serious, but we're out there having fun, too.
We'll be 10 plays into a drive, and he'll say, 'All right guys, I'm
just going to fumble this one, because I'm tired and we'll get off
the field.' Or 'I'll just throw a pick and we'll try to score in
less plays next time.' "
Levity on the field is just one of the differences in the
offense now that coach Joe Gibbs has switched to Brunell from
Ramsey, who struck a more serious tone in the huddle. Ultimately
Gibbs' decision will be judged by how many games Brunell wins, but
the immediate impact is the natural difference one would expect
between a 13-year veteran and a fourth-year player still trying to
find his place in the league.
"Mark's been around for eons, it seems like," Rabach said.
"He's kind of seen everything. He's experienced everything. He
knows when to keep it loose, he knows when it's time to work."
There were other differences noticeable Sunday in a 9-7 victory
over the Chicago Bears, when Ramsey gave way to Brunell in the
second quarter.
Ramsey, with his strong arm, was his usual feast-or-famine self.
He completed a 52-yard pass -- longer than any Redskins quarterback
completed last year -- but he had two fumbles and an interception.
Brunell excelled more at managing the game. He was mistake-free,
didn't complete a pass longer than 23 yards and did just enough to
beat a mediocre team. He threw for only 70 yards, which means he
hasn't reached even 100 in five of his last six games.
The next day, Gibbs selected Brunell as the starter for Monday
night's game against the Dallas Cowboys, even though Ramsey is
healthy enough to play. The coach isn't expected to change his
basic game plan for the new quarterback, but one concern is that
Brunell hasn't practiced much with starting receivers Santana Moss
and David Patten, who had worked mostly with Ramsey since the start
of training camp.
"There's no right answer right now," Moss said Thursday when
asked if he's practiced enough with Brunell. "All I can say is
we've practiced with both guys.
"No, we haven't played that much with him, we all know that.
The best part is we played the last three quarters with him. To me,
that was the start of what we have to do now. It's not like I'm
going out there to catch the ball from my 5-year-old son who never
threw a pass to me before."
The quarterback switch has overshadowed everything else at
Redskins Park this week, including the afterglow of the
season-opening victory. Several players have expressed sympathy for
Ramsey and surprise over Gibbs' quick hook, but there's no time to
dwell on it with the team's biggest rival coming up.
"We've got to be focused," running back Clinton Portis said.
"We can't let a QB switch depress us. We can't let it get us down.
Whoever's back there, we've got to roll with it."
Brunell's humor should keep depression to a minimum, although he
wasn't always a tension-breaker in the huddle. Until a few years
ago, he was as serious as Ramsey is now.
"I was wound too tight," Brunell said. "I think it comes with
experience. You can make it a light atmosphere but at the same time
be serious about what you're doing.
"We're not just a bunch of giggles out there. We work, but
there is a time for a little levity, and I think it puts guys at
ease. Some guys are so focused they don't listen to you anyway."