Earnest Byner

ASHBURN, Va. -- The Washington Redskins, who beat the Minnesota Vikings without cornerback Darrell Green during the regular season, apparently will try to do it again in the playoffs Saturday.The beleaguered Redskins put their walking wounded through their first drill for the Vikings game yesterday with 10 players on the injured list, six of whom missed practice.Green, who bruised his heel jumping for a pass three weeks ago against the Dallas Cowboys and aggravated the injury Saturday against the Los Angeles Raiders, was the only one of the 10 listed as questionable and appears to be the least likely to play.

In the National Football League, there are tough road games, and then there is Mile High Stadium in Denver. All the Ravens have to do to break a two-game losing streak and get the first road victory of their inaugural season is win there Sunday.Good luck.The Ravens will be dragging a 2-4 record into Denver, not to mention a devastated defensive line that is reeling from the loss of end Rob Burnett to a season-ending knee injury and tackle Dan Footman to a broken forearm that could sideline him for the rest of the year.

CARLISLE, Pa. -- This may just be happenstance, but when Washington Redskins rookie Ricky Ervins went looking for his customary number 34 during the first day of rookie training camp, he found it in the custody of free-agent safety Terry Hoage.So he donned the number 32 in the Redskins' burgundy and gold, which has little significance until you learn that Ervins was a tailback at Southern California.A tailback? At USC? Wearing 32? Excuse me, but didn't O.J. Simpson start out this way?"It's great that I have 32, because I get to live out one of my fantasies and be O.J. Simpson," said Ervins.

WASHINGTON -- Art Monk keeps moving up the National Football League receiving ladder.The veteran Washington Redskins' wide receiver became the third player to catch 700 passes in a career and stretched his consecutive-game string to 110 -- the fifth-longest in NFL history -- in the team's 31-17 victory over the New Orleans Saints yesterday.Monk, who barely kept his streak alive with one catch against the Philadelphia Eagles Monday night, made four receptions for 43 yards and one touchdown.

Since the 2000 season, the Ravens have tried to copy the blueprint that led them to the Super Bowl title. But they've never been able to duplicate the running back of that season. Running backs like Jamal Lewis come along only once in a while, and the Ravens have yet to find another runner like Lewis. Few teams do. "It's rare to get that kind of power, speed and size in that kind of a back," Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said. "Guys like him, Chuck Muncie, Corey Dillon, John Riggins, they only come along every so often.

PITTSBURGH -- How well are things going for the Washington Redskins?They're going so well that coach Joe Gibbs is now apologizing for scoring.After Jeff Rutledge threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Sanders with 2 minutes, 5 seconds left in the team's 41-14 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday, Gibbs was quick to apologize to coach Chuck Noll after the game."

KANSAS CITY -- Joe Montana, who has done just about everything there is to do in the NFL playoffs, is now ready to tackle what might be his toughest task: making Marty Schottenheimer a playoff winner.Schottenheimer, the Kansas City coach, and Montana, who'll play his first playoff game in a Chiefs uniform against the Pittsburgh Steelers today, are something of an odd couple in the playoffs.Montana is one of the most successful playoff performers in NFL history.He and Terry Bradshaw are the only quarterbacks to win four Super Bowls, and Montana is 14-5 in playoff games as a starter.

The debt is still unpaid. Baltimore will have to wait awhile longer to get its revenge on the city of Indianapolis, as its Colts defeated the Ravens, 26-21, last night before a crowd of 56,978 at the RCA Dome. The Ravens (2-4) played perhaps their best game of the season, a gallant and gutty effort despite losing two starting defensive linemen in the first half who might be gone for the season. But an interception returned 68 yards and a 1-yard run by Marshall Faulk around left end were the deciding touchdowns in the second half that determined the Ravens' fate against the Indianapolis Colts (5-1)

Bam Morris referred to himself as "kind of rusty" after yesterday's 37-31 Ravens victory. What happens when this guy gets warmed up?Morris, who made his debut in last week's 45-34 loss in Denver by rushing for 15 yards in a cameo role, introduced himself to the home crowd at Memorial Stadium by scoring two touchdowns.With six carries, Morris did not play the expanded role that coach Ted Marchibroda envisioned -- Marchibroda had said before the St. Louis game that Morris would carry around 15 times.

Numbers* Best day passing: Bubby Brister, Pittsburgh, 22-29-0, 262 yards* Best day rushing: Barry Sanders, Detroit, 32 carries, 143 yards* Best day receiving: Tommy Kane, Seattle, 6 catches, 122 yards* Longest TD passing: Vinny Testaverde, Tampa Bay, 87 yards to Willie Drewrey* Longest TD rushing: Neal Anderson, Chicago, 42 yards* Longest field goal: 52 yards, Scott Norwood, Buffalo* Most field goals: 4, Matt Stover, Cleveland, 30, 42, 38, and 45 yards300-yard passer*...