ASHBURN, Va. — To listen to Clinton Portis tell it, there was nearly an uprising of veteran Washington Redskins when rookie coach Jim Zorn imposed a curfew two nights before the team's final game last season.

Portis didn't like being told he had to be in bed by 11 p.m. on a Friday night ahead of what turned out to be a loss at San Francisco. The running back says teammates were upset, too.

"Some things, you don't do (to) grown men," Portis said Thursday after the first practice of 2009 training camp. "You don't want people rebelling."

Year I of Zorn's life as an NFL head coach certainly hit some bumps, not just on the field — where a 6-2 start was followed by a 2-6 dive to 8-8, with no playoffs — but also away from it, including a public spat with his star running back over playing time and other matters.

By all accounts, Zorn is making adjustments for Year II, which makes sense, considering he never worked at a position higher than quarterbacks coach before being picked to replace Hall of Fame member Joe Gibbs in Washington.

"Every year, coaches have to grow within their own program," Zorn said. "Grow with the players they've got. Grow with what you might be able to do — and what you know you can't do."

One change Portis and some of the other older Redskins love: Zorn decided to allow players who have been in the league at least four years to live at home, rather than at the team hotel, during training camp.

"I don't have to stay with you to bond with you. I don't have to see you every night and day. That's not going to be bonding, that's going to be fighting if I see you too much," wideout Santana Moss said. "I feel like it works. You are a veteran — you have done this a long time."

Players described the move as a sign of trust and respect.

And a sign of Zorn's adapting to his job.

"It was just learning things," Portis said. "This year, he came back with a chance to let us be men, staying at home and being responsible and leaving it on us. So I think that's a great start."

Zorn's Redskins training camp debut in 2008 got off to a rather unusual start. Defensive end Phillip Daniels tore up his left knee on the very first play of 7-on-7 drills, prompting a trade for Jason Taylor before the day was done.

This year, no such oddities during the first practice. Everyone other than unsigned top draft pick Brian Orakpo was on the field, and no one got injured.

New defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth was out there, alongside a healthy Daniels. Quarterback Jason Campbell looked sharp. Portis, whose preference for less practice was a theme of last season, passed his conditioning test Thursday, then got in his reps.

After the opening two-hour session, several players said Zorn seemed less hyper than he did 12 months ago.

"He knows us players better, first and foremost. He knows the roster a lot better," center Casey Rabach said. "This year, he seems a little bit looser. Last year, he was kind of tight, and a lot of little things bothered him. This year, it doesn't seem that way."

Said Campbell: "You definitely can tell. He's more laid-back this year."

Zorn acknowledges feeling "more relaxed," and he also attributes that, in part, to players and coaches knowing each other more and knowing the team's system more.

Asked about last season's curfew the weekend of the loss at the 49ers after Portis raised it, Zorn played the issue down. "That was just something that wasn't a major issue, and I'm sure with him, it wasn't a major issue," Zorn said.

But Portis made it sound like one.

"I don't think you put people in that situation," Portis said.

Make no mistake, however, Zorn is in charge, and he makes the rules.

He dressed down some players for wearing various colors and lengths of shorts and sweat pants during last year's practices. This year, Zorn told his players, everyone should wear burgundy — the team's main uniform color — and there are three acceptable lengths.

To demonstrate this during a team meeting, Zorn wore full-length burgundy sweat pants, peeled those off to reveal burgundy cutoffs, and then removed those to reveal burgundy shorts.

"I don't want all of the different colors, because we don't look like a team," Zorn explained. "And that's what we're trying to put together: a team."

When someone pointed out Thursday that Zorn himself was wearing khaki pants for the first practice, he smiled and noted: "I'm the coach."

NOTES: After an offseason in which the Redskins tried to trade for Jay Cutler, then tried to move up in the draft to get Mark Sanchez, Campbell is still Washington's starting QB. And stepping out for the opening practice of training camp, Campbell said, "The first thing I see is a 'DC WANTS VICK' sign. I started laughing to myself about it." ... Zorn said he had "no new information" on when Orakpo might be at camp. Orakpo's agent said negotiations were ongoing.