Sinorice Moss wondering where he belongs in team's plans

Sinorice Moss was smiling as he gathered his belongings at his locker the other day. Smiling outside, even if he was brimming with disappointment inside.

“You’ll always see a smile on my face,” the Giants’ wide receiver said. “I feel great. My life is great. I woke up this morning.”

And then, like he has every other in-season day during his time with the Giants, Moss went to work, hit the practice field, made a few catches and went back inside to wonder why he’s not a bigger part of the team’s game plans, such as the one for Sunday night’s matchup with the Eagles. Moss was among the Giants’ inactives – the fifth straight game he hasn’t dressed.

“I’ve shown numerous times what I’m capable of doing to this organization, to this team, to my teammates each and every day,” Moss said. “(The lack of playing time) is something I don’t understand and it’s something I probably won’t get the opportunity to understand, but I have to go out there each and every day and do what I have to do to better myself as a professional athlete.”

Moss is four years into his professional career and could conceivably have many more seasons in the NFL yet to play. But the first part of the former second-round pick’s career has been very disappointing.

Moss has 39 catches for 421 yards and three touchdowns in his career – an underwhelming collection of stats that’s been aided by only one reception this season. It was an 18-yard touchdown catch late in the blowout victory over the Buccaneers in Week 3.

Other than that pass, Moss has been practically invisible on the field this year. He’s seen only two other passes come his way and both of them were incompletions in the Week 8 loss in Philly. On one of them, he was open on a deep post up the middle, but Eli Manning overthrew the 5-8 receiver.

“It’s very tough to get in a rhythm,” Moss said. “With repetition, that’s how you build confidence. With anything you do, with any player. You get a certain amount of reps, you build confidence to know that, ‘Okay, I’m capable of doing whatever.’ ”

Moss’ uncertainty extends beyond this current season because he’s in the final year of his rookie contract. That means he’ll be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. But like all prospective undrafted free agents with only four or five years’ experience, Moss will be a restricted free agent if the owners and the union don’t agree to an extension of the collective bargaining agreement.

The Giants would likely have to make only a low tender to retain Moss’ rights.

“It’s a lot of uncertainty, but I try not to think about that,” said Moss, who added: “I would love to be here. This is where my heart is. I ride and die for the New York Giants. Anybody can tell you how much passion I have for this team and the organization.”

An organization he might have been close to leaving before a two-touchdown performance in the preseason finale against the Patriots. Four months later, Moss appears to be in a precarious spot once again.

“But with the opportunities I got in certain games, I made the best of them,” Moss said. “Whether it’s catching the balls or scoring touchdowns, I made the best of them.”

Click here to order Sinorice Moss’ proCane Rookie Card.



(nj.com)