Three of the Redskins' primary offensive players sat out practice on Monday, as the team returned to practice after a four-day break.
The playing status of quarterback Mark Brunell (strained rib muscle), wide receiver Santana Moss (hamstring) and running back Clinton Portis (ankle sprain) will be determined on Wednesday afternoon when the team releases its injury report. The Redskins host the Dallas Cowboys next Sunday, Nov. 5, at FedExField.
During practice on Monday, Brunell gave way to Todd Collins and Jason Campbell as he continues to recuperate from his rib injury. Collins and Campbell split reps with the first-team offense, according to head coach Joe Gibbs.
Brunell expects to return to practice on Wednesday.
"I didn't practice today, I needed another day on the side, but on Wednesday I'll be back to normal," Brunell said. "I'm going to be fine. It should be a regular week."
Moss suffered the hamstring injury during the Redskins' Week 7 game against the Indianapolis Colts. The 5-10, 190-pound speedster expects to be cautious with the hamstring as he works his way back into the lineup.
"Hamstrings can be the type of injuries that one day feel okay, then you go out and really work it and you don't know," Moss said. "Right now it's not where I can go out there and do what I can really do.
"I'm concerned because I want to do a lot of work, but at the same time, being a guy who has dealt with [hamstring injuries] before, I know they can come back and hurt you later on. So I'm going to take it day to day. I hate to have to go through this, but it comes with the territory."
On Monday, Portis was no longer walking with a boot to protect his sprained ankle. Like Moss, he suffered the injury during the Colts game.
Portis rested the ankle over the weekend and he hopes to get back on the practice field on Wednesday.
"I'm sure we'll do more on Wednesday," Portis said. "We're going to come at it, see what we can do on Wednesday and go from there."
Asked about Portis's status, Gibbs replied: "We will have to see how he comes along this week. I talked to him before he left [for the bye] and we set out an agenda [for his rehab] over the last few days.
"Anytime something like that happens, it falls on the other guys' shoulders. We have a lot of confidence in Ladell [Betts], we would like to see T.J. (Duckett] play some and we have Rock [Cartwright]. We will just have to see how it goes. Hopefully for us, we will see during the week that Clinton will be able to get back out, take work and get ready to go."
Portis missed the Redskins' Week 2 game at Dallas, a contest the Cowboys won 27-10.
On defense, defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin returned to practice on Monday for the first time in two weeks. He sat out the Indianapolis game due to a hip injury.
However, middle linebacker Lemar Marshall missed practice to rest an ankle injury that has bothered him for several weeks. Like Griffin, Marshall sat out the Colts game.
