ASHBURN, Virginia -- The latest lesson occurred this week in practice, another nugget of education for Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins.

During a two-minute drill in practice, Cousins called his own plays and, after one, he checked it down to the running back. It wasn't a bad decision; it's also a situation he could have handled better as coach Jay Gruden reminded him a few minutes later, providing another lesson to help a quarterback with 32 straight starts.

Gruden told him the check-down was fine, but: running back Chris Thompson was 'tackled' in bounds and now the clock was running and the receivers had to hustle back to the line.

"So, yes, Chris is open but in a game it's sometimes better to throw an incompletion or out of bounds or a jump ball to a guy in the end zone who's covered rather than throw to Chris for a completion," Cousins said. "As a young player, you're trying to find a completion. As a more evolved player you're thinking about the next step. It's the next step, next step, next step that you're always taking as a quarterback. That's something I will always be improving upon."

Another thing: In a game, Gruden would call the two-minute offense, something Cousins at some point wants to do.

"That would be another step of growth, trying to call my own plays and think like a coach," Cousins said.

Meanwhile, Cousins has improved, or continues to evolve, in the nuances of the position. It's why he’s confident his best days remain ahead. Here's a look at some key areas:

More assertive

During one practice in camp, Cousins pulled receiver Brian Quick aside to go over a route, walking through it to show him the way he needs it run. He showed Quick why a route he ran to 12 yards needed to be run to 15 and at a different angle.

"Three years ago, I don't think I'm doing that because I haven't been there and seen it done to know exactly what it should be like," Cousins said. "Because there's always turnover in this league, if you aren't really good at communicating what you need and coaching your teammates and leading guys, you'll never have the stability you need to be successful. That's where I'm trying to grow is in leading the guys around me."

Protection calls

Cousins has steadily grown here, one reason why he's been sacked only 49 times the past two years combined (fifth fewest among quarterbacks with 26 starts or more). During this period, his average time before throwing the ball was 2.59 seconds, eighth longest according to ESPN Stats & Information. The line protects well; Cousins helps.

"It's just more a mastery of do we want to redirect the protection or audible to a different protection," Cousins said. "If to a different protection, which protection is that? I have a better understanding of, is my tight end in the core? Is he available to use in the protection? Is he removed? Singled out to where I can't bring him in related to the play clock?

"That's an awareness level that as a young player, you're not thinking about. That's not 100-level stuff. That's further down the road. I've been trying to get better at that. Every coach has a different philosophy."

It's changed from when he first arrived in Washington, playing for offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, to now under Gruden.

"Kyle's philosophy was don’t change the protection, just throw hot," Cousins said. "Jay's mindset is, we want to pick it up and we want to give you the ability to sit in there and throw a pass down the field."

Knowing the protection calls, and being able to perhaps get a defense to tip its hand, helps him audibilize better, too. But that process isn't yet complete.

"He can get us out of a bad play smoother than he has in the past," Gruden said. "That's the key. Pre-snap is the key, knowing where the protection is solid or weak. How we want to attack the coverage, where the routes will be and anticipation when throwing. He's not perfect by any stretch; he's still going through that. The different route concepts we like for different coverages. They might play a [coverage] where he has to reset and find someone else or pull it down and run it. That's the transition he's going through now."

Cadence

Cousins has improved with his cadence calls. He's increased the words he'll use to identify a look or change a call. He's improved his ability to go deeper in the play clock before making a final adjustment.

"He has a great handle on cadence, snap count," Gruden said, "which is a huge element that no one really talks about. He has a good gauge on that. He gets the ball snapped [fast] or he can drag it out if he needs to use every second of the play clock, to see what the coverage is doing. Or he can snap it quick and catch them off guard. He's way better there; a lot better than last year."

This allows the Redskins to use formations or strategies that in the past they could not, perhaps arming him at times with more responsibility at the line.

It also will help Cousins in various situations. Two years ago in Atlanta he made a protection call only to later realize -- too late for his comfort level -- that the blitz was coming from the other side. So he knew he had to throw "hot" to receiver Ryan Grant. Pick-six; game over.

"I can't change in the noise and say let's go to a different play," Cousins said. "So I know I'm hot and throw the ball that shouldn't have been thrown or thrown to a different spot. But to better master this on the road, in the noise, that's something I can do with hand signals or fake cadences to get them to show they’re blitzing and then we get them to show what they're doing. It's never 100 percent. But it's also nice to be on the side where you're dictating terms and you can feel what's going on and get to a better play."

Cousins said he has a greater understanding of all the factors on a play before the snap: the play clock, hand signals, audibles. He's always felt comfortable reading coverage pre-snap. But these other areas have increased what he can do before the snap.

"There’s a lot of room to grow there. But I'm trying to continue to take steps," Cousins said. "To Jay's credit, he doesn't need to have control so he is willing to give me as much as I want so this could evolve so that years from now I do have a lot of control and a lot of say. Right now we have a good give and take. He'll say, 'What are your thoughts?' But I'm saying, 'Well, what are your thoughts?' That's been good for me to grow. He's given me that extra responsibility when I think I can take it or want to try it."