The Redskins have decided to place running back Clinton Portis on injured reserve, ending his season after nine games.

Portis suffered a fractured right hand in Sunday's 27-3 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. He had surgery on Monday and was originally expected to miss 3-4 weeks.

After the season, Portis was expected to undergo shoulder surgery, however. Team official decided to end his season now so that he can have shoulder surgery before the offseason begins. It is hoped that Portis will be available for off-season work next spring.

"As far as the team, they want me to get fully healthy and fully recovered, and they wanted me to get everything fixed that's wrong," Portis said on Wednesday. "I understand the decision."

Ladell Betts is expected to start in place of Portis for the remainder of the season. Rock Cartwright and T.J. Duckett should also see increased action in backup roles.

It has been an injury-plagued season for Portis.

He suffered a shoulder injury in the Redskins' preseason opener on Aug. 13 at Cincinnati, an injury that lingered into the regular season and forced him to sit out the Week 2 game at Dallas. In Week 7 at Indianapolis, he suffered an ankle injury.

Portis played in eight games this season and had 127 carries for 523 yards, a 4.1 yards-per-carry average, and seven touchdowns. He also caught 17 passes for 170 yards.

Asked how his injured shoulder has felt, Portis replied: "It has been good enough for me to play, but at the same time, I think I protected the shoulder a little bit. I really never could jam or have any quick twitch moves with it. I just knew my limits."

He said the hand surgery was the primary reason why the team opted to place him on injured reserve.

"I think the coaches didn't want to take a chance of having me re-aggravate it if I came back," Portis said.