New quarterback won't slow down Moss

FOXBOROUGH - Perhaps no Patriot is more affected by quarterback Tom Brady's season-ending left knee injury than wide receiver Randy Moss.

The effect Brady's absence has on Moss goes beyond his statistics; it infiltrates the locker room and the offensive huddle. Without Brady, Moss will be both the offense's one truly elite player and its de facto leader Sunday when the Patriots face the New York Jets at Giants Stadium.

After his acrimonious departure from the Oakland Raiders, few would have projected Moss in a leadership role with the Patriots. But his teammates voted him an offensive captain this season, along with Brady and left tackle Matt Light.

"The media doesn't see a lot of his leadership skills and things he does, not just on the field, but off the field to help guys," said fellow wide receiver Kelley Washington. "He's just really a personable player to his teammates. This is what the media doesn't see, so I know the team feels like he deserves to be a captain. That's why we voted him. He's just a great person to have in the locker room."

Moss downplayed the meaning of being a captain. "It just means that people look up to you. There ain't nothing new about that to me," he said. However, he acknowledged that as much as anybody he'll be called upon to ease Matt Cassel's transition from understudy to a feature performer.

"Time and time again the quarterback really makes all the calls and makes the decision of where he distributes the ball," said Moss. "The biggest way I can help is to go out there and do my job. Doing my job may consist of doing things a little bit harder, quicker, and faster."

Moss did that against the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday when, with the Patriots backed up on their 1, he made a route adjustment that allowed Cassel to hit him for a 51-yard gain. He did it again seven plays later when he made a Spider-Man-like snag of a Cassel pass for a 10-yard touchdown that capped the 98-yard drive.

But after that TD, Cassel completed just one more pass to Moss, who finished with six catches for 116 yards.

The litmus test is how Moss will react if Cassel can't get him the ball and the Patriots are losing. Will he let his frustration flow and upbraid the backup on the sideline like he used to do to Daunte Culpepper in Minnesota? Will he simply give up hope like he did in Oakland with Andrew Walter? Or will he whisper in Cassel's ear and throw his arm around him, letting the quarterback know he's behind him no matter what?

Cris Carter, who mentored Moss in Minnesota and spent four seasons playing with him, said Moss will get in Cassel's ear, but he can't overwhelm him with suggestions or demands.

"The best way for him to help is with the ball in his hands," said Carter, now an ESPN analyst, on a national conference call yesterday. "The question is will he still be a great teammate if he gets limited touches like in Week 12 through Week 16 [last season], when teams slowed him down, or in the playoffs?

"Randy has played with a lot of different quarterbacks. I expect him to help because Randy wants to win. He wants to win a Super Bowl; that's his only goal left in football."

Moss acknowledged he doesn't have the same symbiotic relationship with Cassel that he developed with Brady because they haven't played together much outside of this exhibition season. Moss was refreshingly honest, yet supportive, when asked about Cassel's strengths.

"I don't really want to get into that because I'm used to working with Tom," said Moss. "[Cassel] has a great upside. I can't really answer your question to pinpoint it. Really, the only performance I've seen has been in preseason. Each week in preseason we were coming back looking at the things we've done right, the things we've done wrong. We still left a lot of offense on the field.

"Matt Cassel has a great upside. It's up to us as far as his teammates and coaching staff to really keep him upbeat and to keep everything positive because there are times during the season and during the games where there are negative plays, and teams do step up and make that run. I think by him being young the biggest thing we can do is to keep him upbeat and keep his spirits high and go out there and make things happen. It's not just on myself. It's not just on Cassel. It's on Coach [Bill] Belichick, and it's on his coaching staff and all the guys dressed in those uniforms."

Moss said he doesn't think the Patriots have to change their offense or go conservative to win with Cassel.

Jets coach Eric Mangini said that regardless of who is under center, Moss will make plays.

"He is an explosive, explosive player," said Mangini. "He and Tom had great chemistry, but I can't imagine that he is going to be that much less explosive."

That's ultimately what Moss has to do sans Brady - remain explosive on the field, without exploding off it.

"I am not going to let something like this get me down, knowing that we still have a lot of football to be played," Moss said. "I am not going to step up as far as going in there and trying to tell him how to do things, knowing Tom is gone. The best thing I can do is do my job, get open, catch the ball, and score touchdowns. That's what I'm going to continue to do. I'm not going to let anything slow me down."

Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com.