Taylor just part of the team

Jason Taylor is getting used to playing for the Washington Redskins.

There was Taylor trying to rev up the crowd, motivate his defensive teammates and urge on the Redskins’ offense during a 29-24 comeback win over the New Orleans Saints - actions so demonstrative that several times it caught the attention of Blache, the Redskins’ defensive coordinator.

Two months after Washington acquired Taylor for two draft picks in a trade with the Miami Dolphins, the 11-year veteran gave the Redskins a hint of what could be in store with a sack, a pass deflection, solid work against the run and continuous enthusiasm in Week 2.

“Each week you see Jason settle down and become more and more of the player he’s capable of being,” Blache said. “He was more into the flow of the game. It wasn’t about him playing his position; it was about him being a part of the team. He was totally into the Redskin rhythm.”

Said Taylor: “I’m getting better. I moved around better [last week], I felt better and I had a little more pop and power.”

Taylor’s sack gave him 118 for his career, tops among active players and 14th all time. While much has been made about Taylor’s transition from right end to left end and how teams will test him with bruising running backs, the next three games are why the Redskins traded for him July 20 once veteran Phillip Daniels suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Before facing Dallas and Philadelphia, the Redskins host the Arizona Cardinals. Arizona features a pocket passer in Kurt Warner, who is expected to drop back 25 to 30 times, and a 1-2 receiver punch in Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald that will give the Redskins’ secondary start-to-finish problems.

On a national scale, Taylor is the Redskins’ marquee player because of his on-field career (a league-leading 101.5 sacks this decade) and his off-field offseason (“Dancing with the Stars”). But within the walls of Redskin Park, he has become a teammate.

“Good guy; very, very, very unassuming,” Blache said. “He doesn’t look at himself as a superstar but just one of the guys. He’s very much like Reggie White when Reggie came in and everybody thought he would be like, ‘Oooh, I’m Reggie White.’ He wasn’t like that, and Jason is not like that either. He responds to his teammates and takes coaching like the rest of the guys.”

Taylor’s knowledge has been built over a 174-game career that has included six Pro Bowl selections and sacks of 63 different quarterbacks.

Teammates said Taylor didn’t waste any time asking questions when learning the defense and, most of the time, offering suggestions during meetings and even at the line of scrimmage.

“You never know what to expect, but I’m glad he’s the guy that he is,” defensive tackle Kedric Golston said. “He embraced the other leaders, and we know he wants to do what he can to help the team win.”

Golston and Cornelius Griffin flip-flop at the defensive tackle positions, and when Golston is lined up inside of Taylor, he often will hear his voice.

“Sometimes he knows what’s happening before the play starts,” Golston said. “He’ll say, ‘Golston widen out. Golston tighten up.’ He’ll tell me what he wants to do, and nine-and-a-half times out of 10, he’s right. He’s not afraid to ask questions to guys who have been here, and on the other end, he’s always giving up information about his knowledge.”

Defensive tackle Lorenzo Alexander said Taylor has helped build his confidence, telling him just because he was smacked around on the last play doesn’t mean he can’t win his matchup on the next snap.

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