His breath billowed out from his helmet — the result of 40-degree weather and overcast skies — as he spoke to another quarterback during practice.

Most of the trees surrounding the isolated practice field in Ashburn, Va., were bare, their once-colorful leaves already fallen, victim to the changing seasons and the brisk wind.

Yet the same sunny personality that won over the state of Hawai'i was still firmly in place for Colt Brennan, rookie quarterback for the Washington Redskins.

Redskins starting quarterback Jason Campbell called Brennan "a fun guy to be around."

"He's always telling me about everything that went on in Hawai'i, and he's always bringing fruit or someone is always sending him different kinds of fruit and we get the chance to taste a lot of it," Campbell said.

"I told him thanks for bringing Hawai'i to the East Coast. Hopefully I'll be able to make it over there one day on my own and get a chance to see some of the things that he's accomplished and seen in Hawai'i."

Brennan may have left Hawai'i, but the hanai son of the Islands has yet to completely adapt to his new surroundings. In 40-degree weather during a practice last week Brennan was the only quarterback with a hooded sweatshirt under his practice jersey and the only one using hand warmers. While Brennan practiced in baggy sweat pants, one player was wearing shorts.

It is just another remnant of a life in Hawai'i for the one-time Heisman hopeful who lifted the University of Hawai'i Warriors to the 2008 Sugar Bowl and became the most recognizable and adored athlete in the state.

"I just miss the lifestyle; I miss Hawai'i," Brennan said. "I think about it all the time, I really do. Sometimes if I'm kind of bored or something like that, I can easily think about Hawai'i and get myself in a good mood. I just can't wait to go back there.

"Right now, I just think about the long run ... if I work hard out here — I love it out here and I think it's a great place and I think it would be great to have a career here — but in the end go back to Hawai'i hopefully and settle down out there."

'COLT IS A COOL GUY'

He plans on spending off-season training in Hawai'i, with more immediate plans to spend part of February in the Islands when some of his teammates likely will be picks to the NFL's Pro Bowl.

It is little wonder that slightly past the midpoint of his first season, Brennan — with the same endearing qualities that enraptured the state of Hawai'i — has won over his Redskins teammates, who are quick to praise the quarterback.

"He's so lame," fellow rookie Fred Davis said. "No, I'm playing. Colt is a cool guy. I like him because he brings a lot of energy. He has a lot of energy and he's really excited to get out there and play, and he's a good player too, so just being around him, he's fun to be around."

With youthful exuberance he runs around at practice like the 6-year-old he refers to when comparing his dreams of playing in the NFL to the current reality.

That he is a hit with his teammates is due in part to the goodies he passes out to them from loyal fans in and from Hawai'i, who ply him with food from the Islands.

"You can meet them anywhere in the world and they'll always keep their customs," Brennan said. "I've done a great job of bringing all the fun stuff from Hawai'i to the locker room, and guys have really warmed up to it."

ADDED RESPONSIBILITY

Away from the field, Brennan spends his free time watching movies or hanging out with teammates. The team practices in Ashburn, Va., about 40 minutes northwest of Washington, D.C. He lives not far from where he trains.

"As you can see there's a lot of land and trees," he said. "We're not really in the mix of things, so it's pretty slow out here, which is pretty nice to some degree. But when you're younger you find yourself bored a lot. It's good, though, because I've been able to focus on football a lot and make sure I've been really doing well in football."

During the summer, Brennan said, he "played a lot of golf."

"They have a lot of things out here where the golf courses take care of you. I'm just basically getting acclimated to the NFL lifestyle."

A slightly rounder face than the one he left Hawai'i with seems to be the only evident physical change for the 6-foot-2, 215-pounder, who has gained nearly 30 pounds since the much-publicized 185 he weighed in at during January's Senior Bowl — the result of a stomach virus.

Yet a more significant growth comes from his added responsibility as a professional athlete, which he's adjusting to after "grinding it out" for five years in college.

"You're having to deal with basically changing and getting used to a lot of unfamiliar feelings and emotions and stuff like that," Brennan said. "You're not used to having this much time on your hands. You're not used to being financially responsible now and having the right to do things and go out there. You have the chance to go out and get stuff and buy stuff.

"You really just try and figure out how to put it all in perspective ... for the past five years I've been grinding it out, going to school and just trying to do so much stuff. Now it's like ... this simple stuff: Show up for practice and always be ready. And it's kind of like you have to get used to that."

CHANGES ALL AROUND

His first big purchase after making it on the 53-man roster was to buy a used Range Rover — with "low mileage" as he was quick to point out. "That was a great feeling," he said.

He called his newfound wealth — he's earning $391,800 this year, according to USA Today — and reduced responsibility a "Catch-22."

"I have to deal with a lot of things that I'm not really used to feeling," he said. "I have a lot of time on my hands, my responsibility is cut back a lot and only having so much to do. At the same time I'm being held accountable for a lot of things.

"It's a lot of fun and a lot of responsibility so it's kind of scary at the same time. You're just trying to get used to all this new stuff that you're going through, so that's the biggest change."