Santana Moss working his way back into form

It didn’t take tight end Fred Davis long to notice the Santana Moss affect at all. While running routes on the first series of the game against Seattle last Sunday, Davis – the Redskins’ leading pass-catcher this season – noticed that he had more room to work with.

Davis had three catches for 53 yards and a touchdown on that opening series. He believes a lot of it has to do with Moss being back on the field for the first time in five weeks because of a broken hand.

“They double-teamed me a lot recently,” Davis said. “But having ’Tana back definitely helps. Hell yeah.”

Moss had four catches for 29 yards. Meanwhile, fellow wide receiver Jabar Gaffney had five catches for 72 yards, running back Roy Helu had seven catches for 54 yards and Anthony Armstrong had a catch for 50 yards and a touchdown to lead the Redskins.

Moss said last week that he hoped to have an impact either by making catches for creating for his teammates, so he accomplished both to a degree.

“I hear from other guys that they get other coverages or looks, but I can never really tell my affect,” Moss said. “All I’m doing is running, trying to beat my guy. If I get two or three guys watching me, then that’s a plus for us, I can say.”

Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan said that he didn’t notice defenders necessarily double-teaming Moss, but said, “It’s just good to have him out there, Tana’s our captain, one of the best players on our team, a guy we trust a lot and go to a lot, so it’s good to have him out there. It gives everybody more confidence.”

Moss said although he had a decent showing, he still has areas to improve upon so he can gain effectiveness.

“I’m going to be building every day on being more polished in everything I do. … One thing about this game, is you can miss one game and not be as sharp as you were before,” Moss said. “So missing four, I’m going to have to pay attention to detail a little more. And make sure everything I do, I know how to do it.”

Moss said he can afford to patiently work his way back into form because of the other weapons that the Redskins have on the roster.

“I’m cool with knowing I have other guys that can make plays,” Moss said. “I’ve been the guy for so many years that it made it hard for me to do anything. Everyone was depending on me and I had guys just making sure I didn’t have a chance to get open. So now, it’s kinda cool to have guys like Gaffney and Stallworth and all those guys can just come in and make plays any time they come in.”


(washingtonpost.com)