Jim Zorn had an idea of what Jason Campbell was going through.

Zorn was the quarterback of the expansion Seattle Seahawks in 1976 and went on to play 11 seasons in the NFL and one in the Canadian Football League.

He knew a thing or two about having to learn a new offensive system.

But in Campbell he had a quarterback who was being given his fourth offensive scheme to learn in his fourth season since being a first-round draft pick (25th overall) in 2005.

And going back to Campbell's days at Auburn, Zorn was going to be his sixth offensive coordinator in six years.

Well, at least until two weeks after Zorn got the job as Redskins offensive coordinator and then was suddenly promoted to head coach.

Zorn hired Sherman Smith as his offensive coordinator, but everything else remained the same. The offense would be the same, and Zorn would retain playcalling responsibilities as the head coach.

"It was a relief," said Campbell, who will lead the 3-1 Redskins into Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday for a huge NFC East showdown with the Eagles. "We knew there was going to be one mind designing the plays and one guy calling the plays.

"All communication was coming from (Zorn). When I come to the sideline, he's the first person to talk to me, and we start going over things. He's talking to the running backs and wide receivers. I think that's the biggest difference right now. We're getting all the communication from one guy."

It's difficult enough for a young quarterback to learn the ins and outs of one NFL offense, but each time Campbell was starting to get the handle on one, he was told to learn something new.

"It's very tough to have to learn a new system year in and year out," Campbell said. "If you look at most of the young quarterbacks in the National Football League, they've been in the same offense for several years. It's really given them the opportunity to mature in the offense. As they go, they continue to have new things added in because the things they've already learned, they are comfortable with.

"With a new offense every year, you feel like you are always changing, not just the offense but a new quarterback coach who does something different. Then you have some of your fundamentals changed and your mechanics. You're adapting to change to how you approach the game and throw the football."

After the Redskins' season-opening loss to the New York Giants, during which Campbell completed just 15 of 27 passes for 133 yards, it looked like there was going to be a long adjustment period to Zorn's version of the West Coast offense.

But something has changed dramatically since the Week 1 meltdown.

In the last three games, all Redskins victories, Campbell has completed 66 of 97 passes for 745 yards with five touchdowns.

His passer rating has been over 100 in each of those games.

"I think the ideal thing for a player is to just hang in there, dive in and not worry about what happened in the past but be concerned with what's going on now," Zorn said. "I think that's what Jason has done so well.

"Jason is progressing along. He's got a ways to go, but I think as the season goes, because each game just gets bigger and bigger, I hope the progression keeps going and he doesn't level out."

Campbell has by no means fully arrived.

Sunday will be just his 25th game in the NFL, and he figures to be severely tested by an Eagles defense that has been on a roll the last two weeks in putting pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

But Campbell put the previously undefeated Cowboys back on their heels last Sunday in Dallas by leading the Redskins to 17 points in the second quarter.

It was the kind of early-season performance that coaches want to see their quarterbacks build on — especially a young one.

"I hope he plays as steady as he has the last three games," Zorn said. "(Campbell) has made some big strides from the first game to the second game. I think he's just playing steady right now. It's not the knockout blow, but it's very steady and I'm very proud of how he's coming. I can't tell you on a scale of 1-to-10 or 1-to-100 where he is.

"I don't really know what his ceiling is going to be. We just continue to try to inch forward, that's all."

If Campbell can keep on his current pace in learning and executing Zorn's offense, he won't have to worry about learning another new one next season.