Wide receiver Santana Moss was upgraded to probable on the Redskins' injury report on Friday after he participated fully in practice for the second consecutive day.
It has been determined that strong safety Troy Vincent and wide receiver David Patten will not be available for Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers. They both were downgraded to out after missing all three days of practice this week.
Moss has missed two of the Redskins' last three games with a hamstring injury.
"Santana took most of the work," head coach Joe Gibbs said. "Last week he sat out, and he took more and more work this week. What we want is a healthy guy, but we also need him in there if there's any way.
"I think he took good work this week and he came along about at the right pace for himself. We've kind of left it up to him, and hopefully we'll get him back healthy."
With Patten sidelined for the seventh consecutive game, the Redskins could still activate rookie wide receiver Mike Espy for spot duty on Sunday. Espy made his NFL debut last Sunday with both Patten and Moss out.
Like Moss, Patten has been slowed by a hamstring injury.
Second-year quarterback Jason Campbell said this week that he is looking forward to playing with the explosive Moss for the first time in game situations.
"Santana is the type of guy who can do whatever he wants when he gets the ball in his hands," Campbell said. "He is a guy who has exceptional speed and does things most people can not do. It is good having him back in the huddle, with just his presence."
At strong safety, the Redskins are expected to play both Vincent Fox and Adam Archuleta in place of Vincent on Sunday. Vincent also has a hamstring injury.
Archuleta started the first seven games at safety and he is sixth on the team in tackles with 50. Fox is a sixth-year player who has played mostly special teams since signing with the Redskins last August.
Fox has impressed assistant head coach-defense Gregg Williams.
"As he has gotten more comfortable, he's done very well," Williams said. "He has earned that right to get on the field. We've had him in some packages that we haven't been able to get out there before, but we made a couple moves to allow him to get out there in a normal package.
"He played pretty well last week. You see those things coming with how active he is on special teams."
Cornerback Shawn Springs sat out practice on Friday to gain some additional rest.
"We rested him some--he worked hard the last two days," Gibbs said.
