Taylor Out Indefinitely With Sprained Right Knee

"I don't know how long" SeanTaylor, above, will be out, Coach Joe Gibbs said. "I'm always careful with these guys because, physically, they're not like the rest of us. We'll take it day by day and see how it goes, but it's going to be a little while." (Haraz Ghanbari - AP)

Safety Sean Taylor will be out indefinitely after spraining his right knee in the Washington Redskins' 33-25 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

An MRI exam yesterday confirmed that Taylor, who leads the Redskins with five interceptions, has a Grade 2 sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee, said Bubba Tyer, director of sports medicine. "He's going to be out at least two weeks," Tyer said. "From there, we'll take it week to week and see how he does."

Taylor left the field late in the third quarter and did not return. He left Redskins Park on crutches without commenting yesterday.

"I don't know how long" Taylor will be out, Coach Joe Gibbs said. "I'm always careful with these guys because, physically, they're not like the rest of us. We'll take it day by day and see how it goes, but it's going to be a little while."

Taylor has excelled in deep coverage in the base cover-2 defense. Without him, the secondary struggled in the fourth quarter as the Eagles outscored Washington 20-10. Quarterback Donovan McNabb teamed with wide receiver Reggie Brown on a 45-yard touchdown pass with 10 minutes 35 seconds left, pulling the Eagles to 22-20.

The Eagles had Brown bracketed in double coverage as he sprinted in the middle of the field, but middle linebacker London Fletcher slipped and safety Pierson Prioleau, filling in for Taylor, turned the wrong way.

"Sean Taylor got a little bit banged up. Him being healthy is our first concern," Prioleau said. "Obviously, he's very important to this football team."

With the Redskins playing Sunday at Dallas, Taylor will be missed, Gibbs said. "We're going to have to adjust things," he said. "We've got depth there at safety; it'll be up to the defensive coaches how we're going to arrange that. We've got guys there that [are] going to have to step up and really play well for us."

Thrash Likely to Sit

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The Redskins received encouraging news about wide receiver James Thrash, who suffered a high ankle sprain against the Eagles but does not have a severe knee injury, Tyer said. "We did an MRI on his ankle, his lower leg and his knee, and he looks good. He's just got a bruised knee," Tyer said. "He has a high ankle sprain. On a grade of one to three it's a Grade 1."

Thrash, who had five catches for 85 yards and two touchdowns, is not expected to play this week but "anything is possible with James," Tyer said. "He probably won't [play] this week but hopefully next week."

Moss Expected to Play

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Wide receiver Santana Moss, inactive against Philadelphia because of a bruised heel, underwent an MRI exam that revealed no further damage, Tyer said.

Moss also had X-rays last week because the Redskins "wanted to see if there was anything we were missing," Tyer said. Moss is expected to resume running later in the week and play against the Cowboys. . . .

Linebacker Marcus Washington, who has missed four of the last five games because of a hamstring injury, is unsure whether he will be able to play Sunday. "You're still kind of guessing because you haven't been through it -- you haven't run at full speed yet -- so I'll probably go through a couple of practices this week and maybe turn it loose a little bit and see how it goes," Washington said. "It's very frustrating, and you kind of want to go out and say, 'Skip it,' but you have to think about the games to come and the future. Hopefully, we'll get to where we want to be in the postseason. So we'll get through this week, see how it feels and hopefully I'll be able to go."