Campbell ready to unleash the ‘dragon’

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.”

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.”

FALCONS

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — An injury to Harry Douglas and the continued contract holdout by Roddy White have combined to make wide receiver a position of rising concern for the Atlanta Falcons.

Douglas left Wednesday’s practice with an apparent left knee injury. The team had no immediate report on the severity of the injury. He was carted off the practice field after he was unable to walk without assistance.

Douglas has received more work with the first-team offense in training camp while White is holding out for a new contract.

BENGALS

GEORGETOWN, Ky. — The Cincinnati Bengals are placing tight end Reggie Kelly on injured reserve, ending his season.

Kelly had surgery Wednesday to repair a ruptured Achilles’ tendon in his left leg. The starting tight end was injured during a non-contact drill two days earlier. The 11-year veteran is expected to be fully healed by the start of next season.

LIONS

ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Dominic Raiola has played for the Detroit Lions since 2001, giving him a unique perspective on the worst eight-season stretch by an NFL team since World War II.

Less than a week into training camp with first-year coach Jim Schwartz, Raiola can see and feel a difference with hard-hitting practices and stiff competition that even put his job in jeopardy.

“I don’t think anybody feels safe,” Raiola said Wednesday. “That’s the way it should be. … You have to earn your keep. Nobody deserves to have anything given.”

Schwartz is pleased Raiola and the rest of the team have gotten the message that no one’s job is safe.

“That’s been our mantra from the start,” he said.

SAINTS

METAIRIE, La. — After Reggie Bush left Saints practice on Tuesday morning to ice his surgically repaired left knee the running back said that he wasn’t worried.

“I iced it just as a precaution, so when I ice it, that means I’m just maintaining,” Bush said. “I’ve got to stay on top of it and treat it as if it was the first day I injured it.”

Bush discarded the ice after a while and continued to stand with the running backs, still wearing his jersey and shoulder pads, for the remainder of practice. But he did not participate in drills and looked stiff as he walked with a slight limp.

JAGUARS

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Receiver Mike Walker has endured a career’s worth of issues in just two seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

He’s been plagued by a nagging knee injury, slowed by a staph infection that required hospitalization and stunned by the deaths of a close friend and his father.

Walker is ready for change. He’s already swapped jersey numbers and has plans to alter his name. He’s also healthy for the first time in years.

“I feel like where I’m at it’s do or die,” Walker said. “I have all the potential. I’m in a state of mind where it’s just time to do it. No more excuses, no more injury problems.”

The Jaguars are counting on him more than ever, too.

After the team parted ways with Matt Jones, Reggie Williams, Jerry Porter and Dennis Northcutt during the offseason, Walker suddenly had more tenure in Jacksonville than any receiver on the roster. And when training camp began Monday, Walker found himself trotting out with the first team alongside seven-time Pro Bowler Torry Holt instead of waiting his turn and lining up with backups.

“If I don’t (start), it’s all my fault,” said Walker, a third-round draft pick from Central Florida in 2007. “I’ve been here the longest. I know all the plays. I expect to be a starter in this game, on this team, in this league and just make plays.”

JETS

CORTLAND, N.Y. — The New York Jets have claimed wide receiver Aundrae Allison off waivers from the Minnesota Vikings, and waived wide receiver Mario Urrutia.

The moves were announced Wednesday.

Allison, a fifth-round pick out of East Carolina in 2007, has 18 career NFL catches for 231 yards and no touchdowns.