“I don’t know what’s going on,” he said. “My, myself, I’m just going to show up every day ready to play football and do what they ask me to do. Maybe I’m just not someone’s favorite, I don’t know.

“We really had a nice rotation. Jerry [Gray] has done a great job keeping us all happy. Circumstances happen, but I don’t know. Fred Smoot is clueless right now. But you know I’m not gonna keep my mouth shut and I wish someone would talk to me.”

But the message he’ll get is the one Gray, Washington’s secondary coach, discussed yesterday. Sunday’s opponent, Cincinnati, plays more three- and four-receiver sets. Therefore Smoot likely will play around 35 snaps.

“If Fred feels like he doesn’t play enough, he’ll get a lot this week,” said. “That’s what he has to understand. … The ultimate goal is to win.”

The tricky part for Gray is that he has four corners capable of starting, provided Shawn Springs returns this week. And that means he has to find a way to get them all playing time. Because of his recurring calf injury, Springs likely will be limited to 25-30 snaps a game upon his return.

“You want to keep everyone happy, but the way you keep happy is you win games,” Gray said. “When you start losing, individual things become more valuable. I’ve been there; I understand where guys are coming from.”

Of Smoot’s 21 career interceptions, six have come in December. And only once in his career has he failed to pick off a pass in this month.

“I play my best ball during December,” Smoot said. “But I obviously can’t make a play on the sideline.

“I don’t know how we’ve done it, but we’ve managed to get along real well and really make a group effort. DeAngelo came and we welcomed him and he turned out to be a totally different person than everyone thought. Everything was going good until this.”