ASHBURN, Va. — Even Jason Campbell’s father is hard-pressed to come up with examples of his son losing his temper.

“Things that would bother me,” Larry Campbell said, “don’t bother him.”
Carlos Rogers said he hasn’t seen a football-related tantrum from his longtime friend and Washington Redskins teammate since their days at Auburn. Is there anything recent? Outside of football, perhaps?
“Other than football,” Rogers said with a smile, “probably getting mad at his girlfriend.”
And though Campbell said he can’t remember the last time he lost his temper, the quarterback who has been both praised and criticized for his levelheaded demeanor warned it would not be prudent to upset him.
“I’m one of those type of guys that you don’t want to push to the limit — because once it all builds up to the inside, when it does come out, it’s like a dragon,” Campbell said.
This from a player whose emotion meter, on a scale of 1 to 10, never seems to stray outside the range from 4.9 to 5.1. Campbell admitted the dragon hasn’t been unleashed very often.
“No, but it will get unleashed a lot this year,” he said. “Because we’re trying to win a championship, we’re trying to at least make it to the playoffs, so my leadership qualities have to step up big time.”
Big time is right. Campbell, in the final year of his contract, has been given a become-great-or-else mandate from owner Dan Snyder, who spent the offseason trying to trade for Jay Cutler and seriously considered moving up in the draft to select Mark Sanchez.
Campbell let it be known he would demand a trade if Sanchez had come to Washington. His precarious perch has landed him on the cover of the upcoming issue of Sports Illustrated under the title “Already Feeling the Heat” — accompanied by the quote: “I am fine now, but there were a couple of times in the offseason I felt like a piece of tissue they were flushing down the toilet.”
But there were no outward signs of the dragon during the offseason trials. Campbell was given credit for handling his adversity with class, avoiding the type of sour ending Cutler had with the Denver Broncos.
“That’s the positive side about Jason,” Rogers said. “Through all this, he kept his cool. He went through the same thing Cutler was going through, and Cutler lost it.”
Ever since Campbell became the regular starter midway through the 2006 season, questions have persisted as to whether he has enough outward fire to be an championship-caliber quarterback. To some, his personality is reflected in cautious play.
Last year, his interception percentage was tied for the best in the league — only six picks in 506 attempts — but he also threw only 13 touchdown passes and ranked 25th with an average of 6.41 yards per attempt.
“In college, Jason was rough,” Rogers said. “He was tough on his guys. Since I’ve been here, he hasn’t been like that with these linemen. I don’t know if it’s that they’re older and he can’t tell them what to do, but he knows he’s the quarterback. That’s his job, to get everyone in line.”
That said, it’s natural to be cautious when the offense is constantly changing. Campbell played for four offensive coordinators at Auburn and had three different offensive schemes in his first four years with the Redskins. With coach Jim Zorn back for a second season, Campbell is enjoying a rare bit of continuity.
Yet even if he is more comfortable, teammates don’t want their quarterback to become a firebrand just for the sake of doing so.
“He’s honest with the players and he’s honest with the guys that he trusts around here, but even when you see him a little bit upset, he’s still a pretty cool guy,” tight end Chris Cooley said. “I’ve heard a lot of people make a big deal out of quarterback personas and their temperaments, and I think he’s fine.
“He’s a leader for us right now. He’s a leader in our huddle. He knows what he needs to do. He’s a little more assertive when he’s on the field, and we’re good with that.”
Zorn is Campbell’s antithesis, a heart-on-the-sleeve coach. He’s the first to realize that Campbell isn’t cut from the same cloth.
“A man has to be who he is,” Zorn said. “I think other people want to see a guy that is a ’hooray’ guy — ’Yeah!’ — and people love that because you can get behind that guy. But that guy does it naturally. I don’t want to say, ’Hey, Jason, you’ve got to light this thing up.’ He has what I say is a quiet intensity, not a monstrous big voice.”
So Campbell won’t be leading Zorn’s “Hip, hip, hooray!” chant in the locker room?
“He does it,” Zorn said. “He just may not lead it.”
Campbell has spent the first week of training camp laughing off the offseason tribulations, saying that he’s moved on and is enjoying life. He said the fans who brought a “DC WANTS VICK” sign to practice will be “the ones trying to jump back on the bandwagon” when the team starts winning.
“You’ve just got to weather the storm,” Campbell said. “Nobody has to tell me what I’ve got to do to be successful.”
NOTES: The offense has struggled during the first week of training camp, and now injuries are making things worse. Three-fifths of the starting offensive line — RT Stephon Heyer (knee), RG Randy Thomas (knee), C Casey Rabach (calf) — didn’t take part in the full practice Wednesday morning. Young WRs Devin Thomas (hamstring) and Malcolm Kelly (hamstring) were also sidelined. “My level of concern is that we’re not getting the reps we need to be cohesive,” Zorn said. “They’re nagging pulls and strains and stuff like that, so I’m not as concerned about the injuries as much I am about the lack of work.” ... Tweet of the day from QB Chase Daniel: “Antonio Cromartie of SD Chargers was fined $2,500 for using Twitter 2 complain about the food (at) training camp! Wow, I’m glad ours is amazing.”