Skins will continue to ride Moss, albeit cautiously

As special teams coach Danny Smith ended an interview a few weeks back, one more thought entered his head. So he punctuated the discussion on Santana Moss the punt returner with a succinct line.

“When he’s hot, you have to ride him,” Smith said.

Moss is hot. The Redskins will continue to ride him.

But they also know they can’t demand too much from him. Not when he’s fifth in the NFL in receiving yards and is the offense’s lone downfield threat.

His 80-yard punt return was a big boost in the 25-17 win over Detroit. But coach Jim Zorn remains locked in a mental wrestling match over how often Moss should be used on returns. Considering he tweaked his hamstring Sunday, there might be some reluctance to try him there this week.

“We’re hoping to do that at some point in each game,” Zorn said. “But we’re using him so much on offense, I don’t know. It’s a tough balance because there’s a risk of getting him injured more on a punt return and I need him on offense, too.”

Moss did not want to say how bad his hamstring was — he called it sore — and all Zorn would say Monday is that they would have a better idea about him later in the week. Having an extra day’s rest before Monday’s game vs. Pittsburgh has to help.

Meanwhile, left tackle Chris Samuels, who missed Sunday’s win with a knee injury, said Tuesday that he “definitely” will play against Pittsburgh. An MRI on Monday revealed irritation to the cartilage, but no damage.

As for Moss, the offense needs him to be ready. Not just for the Steelers, but for the entire second half of the season. He’s on pace for 84 receptions, which would match his career-high set in 2005.

He’s not fretting that a sore hamstring foreshadows worse days ahead simply because the past two seasons when various leg injuries bothered him.

“I’m not gonna worry about stuff that happened in the past,” he said. “That’s the past; this is the present and the future and what’s going on with me now ain’t got nothing to do with before.”

Nor is he concerned with being overused.

“I’m back there one time a game,” he said. “It’s nothing. I told coach going into the season that I would like to be back there at least once or game or twice a game if they need me. Overused isn’t even a word to me because when you’re out there playing you just want to be used enough to win the game. I don’t worry about how many more reps I got because I want more opportunities to give ourselves a chance to win. That’s all it’s about.”

(dcexaminer.com)