Washington Redskins Injuries: Hightower Done This Year, Moss Out 5 Weeks

The Washington Redskins think running back Tim Hightower suffered a torn ACL in Sunday's 33-20 loss against the Carolina Panthers and will be out for the year according to sources.

Coach Mike Shanahan confirmed the tear and that Hightower was lost for the season. The Redskins now will rely on Ryan Torain and Roy Helu to take the bulk of the rushing attempts.

The fourth-year back hurt his left knee when it buckled during a four-yard carry in the third quarter on Sunday. He was helped off the field while putting almost no weight on the leg, then carted to the locker room from the sideline.

Hightower, who got the start over Ryan Torain on Sunday, had run for 88 yards on 17 carries before his injury. He has rushed for 321 yards on 84 attempts this season with one touchdown. He also has a receiving touchdown.

Hightower started the Redskins' first four games of the season and was benched in favor of Torain for the Redskins' game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 5 after Torain exploded off the bench for 19 carries and 135 yards in a 17-10 win over the St. Louis Rams in Week 4.

Shanahan also said receiver Santana Moss would miss five to seven weeks after undergoing surgery on his broken hand. Moss, who also sustained his injury on Sunday, hurt his hand in the first half and spent the rest of the game watching from the sideline while wearing a bulky wrap on it. Although Moss is the best receiver on the team, having been targeted 42 times this season, grabbing 23 receptions and catching two touchdowns -- all team highs -- he is only third on the team in receiving yards (284) and has just three catches this year of 20 yards or more.

Moss tweeted Monday that he was set to have surgery on his broken hand. The Washington Post reported that it is expected that Moss will be sidelined for a month.

Waitn on the Doc!!! Ready and dressed for surgery..., he wrote on his Twitter.