So for some it was business as usual — putting out a Portis-created fire. But there was an asterisk for others.

One player said Portis had an agenda with his comments. Then he added, “He said what a lot of players were thinking. But why not wait three more weeks?”

In other words, wait until the season is over — and not during a stretch where the Redskins have lost four games out of five — before voicing his opinion.

“It was dumb,” another player said.

“It’s something you take with a grain of salt with Clinton,” Rabach said. “[But] it’s the worst timing for this to happen. It’s definitely something we don’t need, but we’ll deal with it and move on.”

Receiver Santana Moss, a close friend of Portis’, said his initial reaction to Portis’ comments on his radio show about coach Jim Zorn was to brace for the media rush a day later.

“I’m like, ‘Oh, they’re gonna ask me questions about somebody else,’” he said. “But at the end of the day you have to move on.”

And Moss expects Portis to play with a vengeance against Cincinnati on Sunday. Portis made some harsh comments about his line earlier this season and then rushed for more than 100 yards in five straight games.

“It turned him into a beast so you never know,” Moss said. “He might go out and play harder.”

The players say it won’t be a distraction.

“I’ve seen that before so I know what good can come out of it and what bad can come out of it,” returner Rock Cartwright said. “We squashed it. Coach Zorn touched on it during the team meeting. We’re moving forward.

“The big question is what happens on Sunday. If we come out and win everything is fine. It’s not a distraction. Most of the time you’re out there playing you’re not worried about the guy, you’re worried about your assignments.”

Corner DeAngelo Hall was in Atlanta during the Michael Vick dog-fighting episode. So he wasn’t fazed by what’s happened this week.

“That’s nothing,” he said. “That’s just a guy getting emotional about a game, like we all do.”