Mood grim for Zorn, Skins

ASHBURN -- Jim Zorn already has the look of someone playing out the string of his employment.

One veteran says he just hopes the coach is around "for the remainder of the year." Another is calling out everybody, saying "it starts with the ownership."

But here's one more fact that sums up the state of the Washington Redskins: On Sunday, they had a guard playing tackle and a tackle playing guard.

And it's getting worse. After giving up five sacks and gaining only 198 total yards in Sunday's 20-17 loss to the Carolina Panthers, Zorn said yesterday that six-time Pro Bowl tackle Chris Samuels will miss next week's game against Kansas City with an injury.

How is this offense, which hasn't scored 20 points all season, going to move the ball behind this line?

"My responsibility -- and it really is my responsibility -- is to even have that work," Zorn said.

Zorn usually has at least a tinge of optimism about him, but his mood was downbeat after reviewing the video of another loss to a winless opponent. Only four teams in the NFC have worse records than Washington (2-3); the Redskins have played all four -- and lost to two of them.

With Kansas City 0-5, the Redskins are about to become the first team in NFL history to play six straight games against winless opposition. Unless they find a way to improve, it could be their last competitive game for a while.

"I want to win. That's what I'm here for. That's what the Redskins are all about," Zorn said. "We've lost two tough games. I feel bad. I'm hurting, and our team is as well."

Questions about Zorn's job security arise almost daily, to the point that the players supporting him are stating goals that are increasingly modest -- such as getting him through the final 11 games of the season.

"I admire his character," defensive end Andre Carter said. "I admire the level of integrity he has as a coach as well as a person. I just hope that he's here for the remainder of the year."

Twenty-one games into his first head coaching job, Zorn still has game-management problems. The Redskins burned their last timeout with 8:47 to play Sunday. And a stretch play behind a leaky offensive line on the 3-yard line resulted in Clinton Portis being tackled in the end zone for a safety.

But the Redskins are in a mess because of personnel. The front office failed to adequately address the offensive line in the offseason. Portis no longer looks capable of breaking off an explosive run, and second-year receivers Malcolm Kelly and Devin Thomas have only 11 catches combined in five games.

"We've got a lot of things we need to iron out, a lot of problems," cornerback Carlos Rogers said. "It's from personnel to coaches to whatever it is, there's a lot of things we need to iron out, and until we address those issues and turn it around, we're going to be the same, going up and down. It not only starts with the players, coaches; it starts with the ownership."

It's unusual for a player to implicate owner Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato, the executive vice president for football operations, along with everyone else. After painting that picture, Rogers was asked what could be done in the short team to address the team's needs.

"You can't do too much right now," Rogers said. "You just have to go with what you've got and make the best for it, and that's what we're doing."

Right guard Randy Thomas was lost for the season with a torn triceps last month, and left tackle Samuels was gone early against the Panthers with a stinger and will miss at least one game. That prompted the Redskins into a lineup with Mike Williams -- a career tackle -- playing right guard and D'Anthony Batiste -- who's always been a guard -- playing left tackle. Tight end Chris Cooley failed to catch a pass for the first time since 2004 because he was needed to help block.

Next week, the team anticipates moving struggling right tackle Stephon Heyer to left tackle and Williams to right tackle. Right guard? Yet to be determined.

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Notes: The Redskins cut punter Glenn Pakulak and re-signed DE Renaldo Wynn, reversing the move they made Saturday. Pakulak was needed to punt against Carolina because Hunter Smith was out with a groin injury. . . . DE Phillip Daniels tore his right biceps against the Panthers but will postpone surgery until after the season so he can continue playing.