"Although the Redskins will miss running back Clinton Portis, they must maintain their focus on trying to succeed as a team, wide receiver Santana Moss said after practice Wednesday.

Moss, Portis's closest friend on the team, joined many players in expressing disappointment that the team plans to place the veteran running back on season-ending injured reserve because of an abdominal injury that requires surgery. But the remaining players still have jobs to do, Moss said.

"We play football," Moss said. "Same thing we did last week, we gotta keep it going."

Obviously, however, losing Portis is a significant blow to the team on the field and in the locker room, Moss said.

"You don't wish that on nobody, man, especially a guy of his caliber," Moss said. "We know he'll still be with us, and I'm gonna pray for him. At the end of the day, I feel like, as long as he get his health and get himself back going, he'll be all right."

Portis, in the final guaranteed season of his contract, initially sat out five games this season because of a third-degree groin tear suffered in Week 4 against Philadelphia. "