Santana Moss says he’s making most of new role so far

Veteran wide receiver Santana Moss says he thinks it has been so far, so good in his new role with the Washington Redskins, lining up in the slot in three-receiver formations.

“I feel it’s gone as good as it can go,” Moss said Monday. “I’m out there. I’m out there making plays…. Thus far, I’ve been handling it well.”

Moss has 10 catches for 97 yards and one touchdown in the Redskins’ first four games of the season. He had three catches in Sunday’s triumph at Tampa, with two of them coming on the Redskins’ final drive that culminated with place kicker Billy Cundiff’s game-winning field goal to beat the Buccaneers, 24-22.

“I’ve been a guy that came in on third downs before earlier in my career,” Moss said. “Sometimes you have to just go back and think about what you did in those situations. That’s basically what I’m doing. But I’m more mature. I’m more able to handle this because I’m not young and I know this game.

“The thing I like about it the most is it’s not something that I can sit and hang my hat on. I know deep down inside if they need me to go outside, I can go out there and beat guys any day. That’s the thing that I’m fortunate to be able to do. A lot of guys may get to where I’m at in this game, their role is reduced [and] you think their role is reduced because they can’t handle the pressure on the outside. That’s not my case. This is a situation they want to put me in to make me better to be able to give them a little more.”

Moss, who’s in his 12th NFL season, was a 1,100-yard receiver for the Redskins as recently as two years ago. His production dipped to 46 catches for 584 yards and four touchdowns in 12 games last season, and the Redskins signed free agents Pierre Garcon and Josh Morgan in the offseason in a bid to bolster their receiver corps.

Through four games, the Redskins are ranked third in the league in total offense and fourth in scoring offense. Their record is 2-2 after the last-second win in Tampa.

“For so long, I’ve been doing it and didn’t have the help,” Moss said. “Now you have so many guys out there that can help you, you sit back and kind of say, ‘Hey, when my time comes, it comes.’ I’ve never been a guy that worries about how many [catches] and all that type of stuff because I feel like whatever your team gives you to be successful, that’s all you can really accept. Therefore I take it in stride. I want to win more than anything. So when something was brought upon me like that, the first thing I said was, ‘If that’s going to help the team, I’m all for it.’ ”


(washingtonpost.com)