Gruden says Kirk Cousins throwing fewer interceptions

There are times when you wonder if training camp and the preseason are really worth it at all. 

Players that exude confidence and efficiency when they wear the red jersey find themselves clobbered and discarded when it counts, and those who looked unsure and confused in practice look invincible on the gridiron.

Seeming to prove the fact that so much more of the game resides in the mind than in the body.

So it was in the cases of Robert Griffin III and Kirk Cousins, the Redskins' presumed starting and relieving quarterbacks, respectively. The summer of 2014 had many wondering if those roles would be switched when it came time to play.

But when the previously-confident Griffin went down with an ankle injury in Week 2, Cousins, armed with the starting nod, switched personalities. In six games over 204 pass attempts, he was intercepted nine times, including a four-pick Monday night against the Giants in what became a rout.

The time from then to now seems to have revealed an improvement.

"He hasn't thrown many [interceptions] this camp," head coach Jay Gruden said. "He's improved on the turnover issue very much, so through OTAs and training camp and preseason games. We're impressed with the progress that Kirk has made very much. He's done a great job."

Over 26 exhibition pass attempts this year, Cousins yet to throw it to the competition, while passing for a touchdown and rushing for a second. The backup quarterback contest between he and Colt McCoy is still wide open, according to Gruden, and judging by the history of their injury-prone starter, may be the most important postion battle going.