Santana Moss predicts Clinton Portis will be motivated

Perhaps no one in the Redskins' locker room understands running back Clinton Portis better than receiver Santana Moss.

The two have had a chance to chat during the team's offseason conditioning program this month, and Moss predicts Redskins fans will see an especially motivated Portis next season.

"I feel like he's a guy who always plays with a chip on his shoulder because there's always something out there said about him that he reads into and he don't like. ... [Coaches are] going to get him going some kind of way, and he's going to come out and play good football," Moss said.

Portis missed half of last season with a season-ending concussion. He's healthy to again compete, but he'll be doing it in a new offense, with backup Larry Johnson fighting for carries and surrounded by mounting questions about his abilities.

"Every year is not going to be perfect," Moss said. "He had a bumpy year where he didn't perform to the caliber that he has. You can say because of injury, you know what I mean. When you have a year like that, you have it in the back of your head that, 'I want to come out and prove everybody wrong or show everybody what I'm made of.'

"He's one of the best in this game. He's done so much with less. He hasn't had the best O-line, we all know that. He hasn't had the best passing game around, we all know that.

And for him to go out there and put up the numbers he put up every year, you have to give him his credit, which. I don't think it's always given because of the kind of person he is and some of the things he do."

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(washingtonpost.com)