Taylor finally pays dividends for Redskins

Dec 23, 2008 - 10:11 PM By Todd Jacobson PA SportsTicker

LANDOVER, Maryland (Ticker) -- Jason Taylor was gone from his locker when his teammate, London Fletcher, started to gush.

Yes, Fletcher said, the Taylor that sacked quarterback Donovan McNabb twice and forced a key fumble in the Washington Redskins' 10-3 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday was the one he'd expected to show up all along.

Yes, this looked like the All-Pro and former NFL Defensive Player of the Year known for wreaking havoc on opposing quarterbacks, Fletcher continued, certainly more than he has since the Redskins acquired him from the Miami Dolphins in August.

"His impact was tremendous today," Fletcher said.

As he finished speaking, Taylor returned to his locker, pulling a black sweater vest over his tailored shirt and tie. Someone mentioned that Fletcher had just praised him.

"Say it again, I didn't hear you," Taylor said.

Taylor was kidding, of course, but the truth is, compliments have been few for Taylor this season - both from outsiders and from himself - and in no week was that more evident than the days leading up to Washington's game against the Eagles.

On a local radio show, he made headlines by saying, "I stink," telling the hosts that he felt he wasn't worth the $8 million Washington will have to pay him next year and that he expected to get cut.

The numbers certainly bore out his comments. Coming into Sunday's game, he had 25 tackles and had more surgeries (two, to repair a rare calf injury) than sacks (1.5).

"Just because I said I stink and I don't deserve the money doesn't mean I hate myself," Taylor said. "I can still look at myself in the mirror and know what kind of guy I am and feel good about myself and all that.

"It's been a frustrating year and I said that from the beginning. ... Not having success on the field like you would've liked and not being able to help this team and feeling the pressure so to speak from the outside the organization, I felt bad."

For at least one game, that seemed to change Sunday. Used often on passing downs and moved around the line to take advantage of his speed and ability to get to the quarterback, Taylor rushed from a down position as well as standing up. He sacked McNabb once in the first half and got to him again in the third quarter, knocking the ball out of his hands and setting up Washington's only touchdown of the game.

It was what Fletcher had expected all along from Taylor.

"He made a lot of plays for us," the Redskins' middle linebacker said. "This was where we thought he'd be when we brought him in. He was finally healthy and able to make some plays. They moved him around and let him rush from all different ways. And obviously we were thinking this is what he'd be."

It's where Taylor thought he'd be as well. He was asked after the game if the game was his finest as a Redskin. With little else on his Washington resume, the answer was clearly yes. But he wasn't satisfied.

"It doesn't surprise me," Taylor said. "I don't want to say it doesn't excite me. I do get excited making plays, we all do. But I'm not going to throw a party because I had a sack. It's not my first rodeo and I expect to do it again."