ASHBURN

All his life, Jason Campbell has been told to stand tall in the pocket.

His new coach has a different message: Get shorter.

"I would never use the term, 'Stand tall in the pocket,'" Washington coach Jim Zorn said. "Then you get players standing straight-legged and they're straight up and they can't move."

During the Redskins' three-day minicamp, which ended Sunday, Zorn kept telling the 6-foot-5 Campbell to play "compressed." What the coach is looking for is a different stance so that Campbell appears about an inch shorter in the pocket.

"It's just very, very subtle," Zorn said. "Bend a little bit

and give him the opportunity to move laterally quicker than maybe what he's done in the past."

During the minicamp, Zorn occasionally pulled his quarterbacks aside after a play to demonstrate exactly what he meant. After practice Saturday morning, the coach gave a demonstration for reporters.

Zorn stood up tall, straight and rigid, with his knees locked. "It would be hard for me to get out of the way of anybody," he said.

He then slightly bent his knees, widened his stance and relaxed his hips. It wasn't a dramatic change - just enough to bring the top of his head down about an inch.

Campbell is sold on the technique. He only has to look at a past Zorn pupil to see what the benefits could be: As the Seattle Seahawks' quarterback coach, Zorn guided Matt Hasselbeck to three Pro Bowl appearances.

"It took him awhile to catch on to all the things (Zorn) wanted him to do," Campbell said. "Once he got used to doing it, look where he's at now."

Keeping Campbell's head down isn't the only height-related change Zorn has implemented. He was also concerned with the level of center Casey Rabach's posterior before the snap. Zorn said Rabach needed to rise up so Campbell doesn't have to crouch down as far, allowing the quarterback to stay at more or less the same level throughout the play.

Rabach took the instruction good-naturedly.

"We're going to come to a happy medium on that, make both parties happy and go from there," Rabach said, laughing. "If raising my butt an inch or two is going to help, whatever, I'll accommodate them. It'll take a little time. It'll feel awkward at first, but we'll get it done."