“They don’t know I play football half the time,” Taylor said, “which is fine.”

The Redskins hope by season’s end he’s known more for his on-field work than off-field stardom.

That will be revealed in time; Taylor has shown dominant speed at times in practice, often pulling up before reaching the quarterback. It’s what the Redskins want to see once the season starts too.

For now, he’s adapting to new surroundings after 11 years in Miami.

“I feel young again,” he said.

Another change: the amount of coverage for minutia. Taylor is amazed by how much attention his shift to left end has received in Washington, saying he played there often in Miami.

“It’s a bigger deal up here than I thought it would be,” he said.

But the big deal is that he provides something the Redskins have needed: a potentially elite pass rusher. Andre Carter is a nice pass rusher; Taylor is a Pro Bowl one.

The Redskins will flip-flop sides with those two, with Taylor starting off on the left side and Carter the right. However, they’ll sometimes switch sides. Taylor created a mini-stir Tuesday when he said they’ve switched without the coaches consent at times.

“What are they gonna say? They could yell at us, I guess,” he said.

But Taylor later said they had not done that on their own in a game; rather just in practice.

And defensive coordinator Greg Blache said, “They don’t have the leeway to do what they want. It’s bad on their part and erroneous on their part if they think so.”

Taylor also said he wasn’t sure if he would be here next year, saying “It’s a day at a time in this league.” However, he made it clear at his initial press conference that he would fulfill the final two years of his contract.