LANDOVER, Md. — Omar Gaither walked up to Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell after the game with a message.

"After the game, I walked over to him and said, ‘I finally got you,’ " Gaither recalled. "That felt pretty good. That felt real good."

Gaither wasn’t referring to the Campbell pass he picked off in the first quarter. He meant the final score — Eagles 21, Redskins 19.

His team had finally beaten Campbell’s, something Gaither’s University of Tennessee squad never did against Campbell’s Auburn club the three years they competed against each other.

"I thought about it coming in," Gaither said, "like, ‘Yo, I got to get a win against this guy.’ "

More importantly, Gaither once again made plays in his second start since replacing banged-up and ineffective Matt McCoy at weakside linebacker.

Though he probably missed his share of plays in another all-around disappointing effort from the entire run defense, Gaither made five tackles and nearly came up with a second interception later in the game.

"On that second one, I jumped too early, and when I was coming down, it hit my hand," he said. "I got to make that play. I’ll get on the [JUGS] machine some this week."

"It looked like he was playing well, and he has been," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "He’s a smart kid."

The position is still new to Gaither, a fifth-round pick who had practiced and played sparingly at backup middle linebacker until he started in McCoy’s place for the first time last Monday night against Carolina.

And while he admits there’s still much to be learned, Gaither said he felt more prepared to go all out against Washington than he did in his debut.

"Last week, I had to [hold back some], because I wasn’t 100 percent sure all the time," he said. "It was my first week at the weakside, outside position. This week, I was more comfortable and I could just react to the ball, and I was able to crank it up a notch."