WASHINGTON — In a joyous locker room late one evening last month at Texas Stadium, Santana Moss sifted through compliments and congratulations. The Washington Redskins had beaten the Dallas Cowboys that day, an upset that instantly transformed perceptions of the team and what it could do. Moss was a primary reason why, bursting into vast meadows of open turf, catching eight balls, gaining 145 yards, looking every bit the elite wide receiver he believes himself to be.

Yet in the midst of the euphoria and the explanations for how it came about, Moss — 29 years old and in his eighth NFL season — quickly offered some caution.

"It's great and all," he said. "I'll enjoy it, because we won, and that's what counts. And I know it won't always be like this."

Just three weeks later, the explosive start to Moss's season — 27 catches and 421 yards in the first four games — has petered out. Two weeks ago against Philadelphia, Moss went without a reception for just the second time in his past 85 regular season games. Last week in a loss to St. Louis, he caught a pair of passes and dropped two more. Coming into Sunday's game against the Cleveland Browns, he has accounted for 22 yards in two games. Defenses have all but taken him away.

"You kind of (get) frustrated at times, just wanting the ball," Moss said last week. "But my big goal, my main focus, is to win the game and be able to be an asset to the team no matter how it is. If I got to block more, I'm going to block more. It's one big circle. It's going to be a chance for me to get off again."

The variations in Moss' production are perhaps the best indication of the nature of Coach Jim Zorn's offense, a West Coast system that places significant pressure on quarterback Jason Campbell to go through a series of reads and take the first open choice, regardless of the name on the back of the jersey. According to wide receivers coach Stan Hixon, Moss was the first option on a dozen plays last week against St. Louis, yet circumstances dictated that Campbell threw his way just four times.

It is a strange dynamic, then, that Zorn can say the day Campbell barely used Moss, his most explosive wide receiver, was the day the quarterback had his best game in terms of using what was there for him, making the right choice.

"When we read, and he's not there, why force it to him?" Zorn said. "Somebody else is going to be there. That's kind of the philosophical difference. Instead of trying to force-feed something, and all week long you go through all these intricate things to try to free him, and he has five catches for 45 yards."

Zorn shrugged and held out his hands as if to say, "Big deal." The implication is clear: Zorn will not adjust his offense for one player.

"I'm not going to revamp what we're doing," Zorn said. "Things will come around."

It would be easier, though, if Campbell had just one more option, another reliable place to turn when two defenders focus on Moss.

"That'd be great," Moss said. "But even if it doesn't happen, I'm going to keep working."

Campbell and Moss are next-door neighbors in Leesburg, Va., though they rarely discuss football back in the development. Occasionally, Campbell said, he'll receive a text message from Moss. "What if we ask Coach about this route?" it'll say.

It is not, Campbell said, a just-give-me-the-damn-ball approach. "I'd never be that selfish to say, 'Let me do something different,' " Moss said. So Campbell will go through his reads again today, against the Browns. If Moss is the first option, he will look to him, long and hard.

"You want to get him the ball as much as you possibly can, but you can't force it," Campbell said. "You put the team in a bad position. You've got to continue to utilize the other guys around him, just knowing that his day will come, and he'll get freed up in the end."

That, too, is the faith Moss must have in Zorn's offense. Rookie wide receiver Malcolm Kelly said that over the past two weeks, Moss has come off the field after a drive and laughed. "He'll say, 'Man, they ain't going to let me get nothing today,' " Kelly said. But it is not, players said, with an eye on those stats that, after four weeks, had him second in the NFL in catches and yards.

"Somebody who got upset might not block," said running back Clinton Portis, a teammate from college. "They'd go to the sideline and pout. Not once have you heard him pointing the finger. He could be the one (saying), 'Oh, if you throw me the ball, I'll go get it.' No. He (will) come in and actually work hard in trying to figure out a way to get open."

That is Moss's task Sunday: Get open. On Friday, Moss finished practice and sang to the old-school hip hop tunes that blared in the locker room. "I'm ready," he said, smiling. Zorn is, too.

"Remember this," Zorn said. "I know he's sitting out there. And I want to get him the ball."