Published: Saturday, Sep. 06, 2008 / Updated: Saturday, Sep. 06, 2008 01:49 AM

Panthers still looking for best out of Moose

CHARLOTTE -- Many things changed in the three years he was gone, but Muhsin Muhammad's role with the Carolina Panthers is the same. They're still looking to the 35-year-old wide receiver for leadership and big plays entering an uncertain year.

Muhammad was thought to be a complementary part after returning hat in hand to the Panthers in February, three years after going to Chicago in a cash-grab. But with Steve Smith suspended the first two weeks of the season, and fellow free agent D.J. Hackett still a mystery, Muhammad's going to be right in the middle of the game plan again.

"You know, 87, I almost take it for granted all the things he does," quarterback Jake Delhomme said last week.

They shouldn't, because all he's going to have to do the next two weeks is carry them the way he did last time he was here and Smith wasn't.

His 2004 season, which greased the skid for his departure, shouldn't have come as easily as it looked. The Panthers were without Smith for the year with a broken ankle, and without a running game or an offensive line for the first half of the year. Muhammad caught 93 balls for a career-best 1,405 yards and 16 touchdowns.

He left, and the Panthers thought they could replace him, with a procession that began with Keary Colbert, Drew Carter and Keyshawn Johnson. None came close to replacing Muhammad's impact, even if Johnson's stats were solid in 2006, when Smith was out the first two games with a hamstring strain.

That's why Delhomme was so casual about the state of his receiving corps.

"Oh, we're light years ahead," Delhomme said. "Now, we could go lay an egg on Sunday and you will laugh at me, but it's not even close. Receiver-wise, I'm not trying to knock anybody, but it's just different than two years ago."

Most of that has to do with Muhammad, who apparently hasn't slowed down. He was always an enigma in that respect, never a guy with great speed, although he owns the record for longest offensive play in Super Bowl history with his 85-yarder against New England. Instead, he's relied on smarts and size, able to use his still-chiseled 6-2, 215-pound frame to create space where there isn't much.

He'll need to this weekend, since he's the only option in the passing game Delhomme can truly trust.

"Well, there's good and bad," Muhammad said of the current state. "The bad is we're losing a very good player who's a big part of this team and a big part of this offense. The good thing is we've still got playmakers."

Chicago thought he had tapered off, though his 14.3-yard per reception average was still exceptional considering its quarterbacks. But his 40 receptions galled them considering he was three years into a six-year, $30 million contract. So while the Panthers didn't exactly roll out the red carpet (a two-year, $3.5 million deal), it was clear they liked having him back.

That was evident this week, when he was named captain for the fourth time in voting by players.

He held the honor from 2002-04 (along with Wesley Walls, Rodney Peete and Delhomme, respectively), and admitted he was "surprised," to hear his name called again.

"I'm just myself," Muhammad said. "It's not that I'm going to assume a role, or am trying to be a particular way. I'm myself, and people respect that. I just try to be that way all the time, be the same guy.

"It's an honor and a privilege and it says a lot about how my peers feel about me and what I bring to the team. It's a little unexpected. There are a lot of great leaders on the field and guys that get it done. But there are some good character guys in this locker room."