Santana Moss needed a break.
Once the 2007 season ended, Moss put the NFL behind him and--for the first time in his career--took three months off from football.
Of course, his wedding to his long-time girlfriend LaTosha this offseason provided the perfect excuse.
It was more than that, though.
Moss turns 29 on June 1 and he believes time away from the rigors of the NFL in the offseason will help prolong his NFL career.
"It was probably the best thing for me because I'm getting older," Moss told Larry Michael and Bram Weinstein on Redskins Radio this offseason. "In the years before, I would get right back to work after I got home [to Miami] after the season ended in January.
"I just needed my body to recover a bit."
The last two seasons, Moss has struggled with injuries. He had a bothersome hamstring injury in 2006 and groin and heel injuries last year.
Despite the injuries, Moss played in 14 games and posted 61 catches for 808 yards and three touchdowns last season.
"The toughest part was that once I got over the [groin injury] that bothered me in the summer, my heel injury came along," he said. "When you have something like a heel injury and you're a guy who relies on running and sprinting, it really slowed me down.
"It was [an injury] that I had to just maintain. It was something new to me."
His injuries fully healed, Moss returned to Redskins Park a few weeks ago to participate in the team's off-season strength and conditioning program.
He has also spent time on the practice fields catching passes from Jason Campbell and Todd Collins and getting his timing down.
And he has a new head coach to get to know, too.
Moss expects Jim Zorn to integrate the talent and personalities of the Redskins' offense while also bringing a new identity.
"The one thing we had with Coach [Joe] Gibbs is that he was a veteran coach who knew how to win games," Moss said. "He's a Hall of Fame coach and his tradition spoke for itself. You had to come out and show him you could be part of the core of players he had in the past. That's what we did, I think.
"Now we have a young coach in Coach Zorn. He's going to have a different perspective on how we need to practice, how we need to prepare. That's the only change I can see.
"I'm not sure how he's going to handle certain situations around here, but I'm going to do whatever he asks me to do."
Zorn is installing the West Coast offense this offseason. It's a system that Moss has familiarity in when he played with the New York Jets.
Moss has watched Zorn when he was a star quarterback with the Seattle Seahawks from 1976-84. Zorn was a play-making quarterback who would often scramble from pressure and make plays downfield.
"I've seen him throwing the ball back in the day with Seattle to guys like Steve Largent, and I'm like, 'Wow, that's my coach,'" Moss said. "Just knowing what he did back then, that's what he's going to want from this team and from our passing game.
"I'm just looking forward to see what he brings. I know he comes from an offense where everyone touched the ball. That's something you want, because you want to spread the wealth--and have fun."
