You already knew that Todd Collins was in. Jason Campbell is very much in but he's also very much recovered from a knee injury suffered late last season. Per an interview with the 'Stache at the official site:
Q: How is your knee feeling two months removed from the dislocated patella injury?
A: "I don't feel [the injury] at all. I feel like I'm 100 percent. I'm healthy. I'm back working out and trying to get myself in the best shape possible."
Good, good, good, good, good. Cannot be said enough. Knee injuries terrify me for their special likelihood -- as opposed to say hurt pinkies or bruised whatever -- of being degenerative. Quarterbacks particularly need to be capable of planting that knee in order to deliver the ball down the field. And you also need that knee when you are ignoring good advice:
A: "I don't feel [the injury] at all. I feel like I'm 100 percent. I'm healthy. I'm back working out and trying to get myself in the best shape possible."
Q: Coach Zorn is famous for his "Slip 'n' Slide" drills with his quarterbacks. Are you ready for that?
A: "I haven't done that in a while. [Laughs] Maybe this year I might slide a little bit more, but I don't want to take away from my game and not do the things I know I can do."
This is a strange thing to claim immediately after bemoaning injured knees, but I support a quarterback who doesn't slide. If part of Jason's game is lowering his shoulder to get the first down and playing without cowardice, I'm willing to get behind that. NFL purists and I will happily part ways on that philosophy, though I'm certain to abandon my own position after injury to our signal caller. For now, I like yards and first downs, and it is difficult to get either by sliding.
A: "I haven't done that in a while. [Laughs] Maybe this year I might slide a little bit more, but I don't want to take away from my game and not do the things I know I can do."
Good news for Jason and Todd Collins means bad news for Mark Brunell. Per Covering the Redskins:
As far as team news goes, Mark Brunell is done as a Skin, with the team signing Todd Collins as the primary back-up to Jason Campbell, Brunell will not be among those receiving a contract offer from the team..
I've had a love hate relationship with Mark Brunell since Hogs Haven opened for business in 2006. I liked that bit about beating the Cowboys with two brilliant passes to Santana Moss. I also appreciated his efficient play getting us to the postseason in the '05 season even if we flailed helplessly once we got there. As is typical of fans I quickly turned on my own player when that ship appeared to have sailed by 2006. I made long, detailed, but probably incoherent arguments as to why Jason Campbell was ready to start and Mark Brunell was ready to sit. For all that it appears as though Brunell's time is finally coming to an end as a Redskin, and I wish him the best in whatever he does now. I predict retirement.