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Randy Moss is as fast off the field as he is on it. Just ask the reporters who were sitting in the Gillette Stadium auditorium after Sunday's 27-17 Patriots win over the Miami Dolphins.

They were given the privilege of asking two questions of the talented wide receiver as he stood before them at a podium. Those answered, a reporter attempted to ask a third, only to have the mercurial Moss step around the podium and walk briskly to a side door to exit the auditorium - while the frustrated reporter continued asking his question to no avail.

The love just isn't there between Moss and the media in general, no doubt about that. And that's a shame, because a lot of people would like to feel better about appreciating what the 12th-year veteran from Marshall has brought to the Patriots since he arrived here in 2007.

The Patriots have yet to win anything with Moss on the roster, that's true. They came awfully close to perfection in 2007, winning all but the last game (some special thing in Arizona, I'm told), and circumstances beyond their control kept them out of the playoffs last year.

Moss isn't getting any younger, either, so the window may be closing on his quest for a Super Bowl ring. Sunday, Moss added milestone after milestone to his resume as he caught six passes for 147 yards, including a catch-and-run 71-yarder for Tom Brady in the third quarter that put the Patriots out in front to stay. Among them:

- Moss tied Buffalo's Terrell Owens for second place on the NFL's all-time list with 140 career touchdown catches.

- Moss passed Henry Ellard (who was briefly a Patriot) and Cris Carter to move into seventh place on the NFL's all-time receiving yardage list. He now has 13,913 yards.

- Moss went over the 100-yard mark in a game for the 63rd time in his career, 13 short of Jerry Rice's NFL record.

Not bad for a fellow that former Patriots' personnel chief Bobby Grier wouldn't put on his draft board back in 1998 over "character issues."

As "character issues" go these days, the infractions of Moss' youth look more like mere campus hi-jinks by comparison to some of the social misfits who call the NFL their home. And it's safe to say that after nine NFL seasons, including two in the black hole that the Oakland Raiders have become, Moss has come to realize that the skills that carried him to the top won't be there forever - and that he is now in a nurturing environment, with a quarterback and a coach who "complete" him (with apologies for the reference to one of the more sappy lines in "Jerry Maguire"). He has responded with play that has surprised both his biggest fans and his most fervent critics.

Patriots' coach Bill Belichick absolutely gushed over Moss when asked about him Friday - and Belichick is not given to gushing over anyone (except possibly Tom Brady).

"I think what we do offensively is quite a bit different than what he did in (Oakland and Minnesota)," the coach said. "I'm not saying it's better or worse, I'm just saying it's different - lining up in different formations, playing in the slot, being in motion, being in different two-, three-, four-, sometimes five-receiver sets, depending on formations.

"That changes some things, so I think that was different for him but certainly, not anything he had trouble with," Belichick said. "From Day One, as I've said before, he's the smartest receiver I've ever been around. He not only knows what he's doing, he knows what everybody else is doing. He knows what the defense is doing and he usually knows what the quarterback is doing with the ball, based on all that information he compiles in a very short amount of time."

Moss may not need the media to love him to do what he does on the field, that's true. His accomplishments to date don't need print or broadcast validation to make them any more prominent in the NFL record books. But without a ring, Moss still lacks the last element he needs to finally distance himself from a troubled past and the persistent accusations (most lately, unfounded) that he dogs it at times.

At age 32, the clock is ticking - and there were a couple of passes thrown Sunday that Moss used to turn into circus catches with regularity, only to have them glance off his fingertips.

Still, he has the coach, the quarterback and the support system in place to get it done - and Sunday was just another example of why Patriots' fans have every reason to believe that it will be before the curtain closes on Moss' career here.

MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com. Read Farinella's blog, "Blogging Fearlessly," at thesunchronicle.com/farinella.