Redskins Head Coach Jim Zorn
On the acquisition of Jason Taylor:
“The tragedy that happened on the first day of
training camp has turned out to make for a very special day today.
Unfortunately we lost two fine football players in defensive ends
Phillip Daniels and Alex Buzbee, and I was stuck thinking about what I
should say after my first day of training camp. As the late afternoon
and early evening wore on, we got a hold of the Miami Dolphins and
earned the opportunity to have the right to have Jason Taylor. It is
due to Vinny Cerrato and Daniel Snyder taking the risks and once again
being aggressive. The same type of aggressiveness that was shown
during the draft also took place yesterday afternoon. To have four
days until the start of training camp and thinking that he would still
be with the Miami Dolphins, and then to have a whirlwind change in his
life and have the opportunity to be a player on this team that will
help us win in 2008 is something I or anyone else could have never
expected. We are very excited to have All-Pro defensive end Jason
Taylor on our team.”
Redskins Defensive End Jason Taylor
On playing for the Washington Redskins:
“I am very excited to be a Washington Redskin.
It has been a whirlwind the last 24 hours. Between getting the phone
call and my family being in Dallas and having to come back to Miami
before I flew here it has been tiring. We are happy to be here and I
am very happy about the prospect of playing for the Washington
Redskins. The Redskins are a good football team that have been in the
playoffs two of the last three years. I am looking forward to doing
whatever I can to help this team win. The injury to Phillip Daniels
yesterday was very unfortunate. My heart brakes for a guy that works
so hard to get ready to go. In talking to people at Redskins Park, I
have heard about how excited he was for the new season and his
prospects for playing this year. His injury is very unfortunate, but
it was the event that catapulted my opportunity to come here and
play. I am very excited to be a part of the team, meet my teammates
and coaches and figure out what football is like in Washington, D.C.
It would be great to help this organization win another Lombardi
Trophy.”
On how many years he plans to play:
“I made a statement in June that I planned to
play one more year and take it from there, but I have told Dan Snyder,
Vinny Cerrato and Coach Zorn that I am on board and will play out my
contract. I will be here for more than one year. I am here to play
football as well as I can.”
On whether there was animosity between the
Miami Dolphins and him:
“From my point of view, there was no animosity,
hard feelings or negativity between the Miami Dolphins and myself.
Miami has been great to me for 11 years. I owe so much of what I am
today to the city of Miami, to the organization and Wayne Huizenga. I
love them to death and Miami is where my family makes our home. There
are a lot of new guys on the team that I did not get a chance to know,
but the guys I played with last year and knew in the organization I
have grown to love. A piece of my heart will always belong to Miami,
but now I am a Redskin and very happy to be here.”
On whether he had any resignations about
playing with the Miami Dolphins this season:
“I was ready to play football in Miami. I was
not disgusted to go and play football for the Miami Dolphins. I was
ready to go. We had five more days, so I was not quite ready to jump
into training camp, but everything accelerated in the last 24 hours,
which is fine.”
On the speculation that a rift was forming
between Bill Parcells and him:
“That is what speculation does sometimes. People
start talking about a certain situation, and when neither party
addresses it, people start coming up with their own theories as to
what is happening. I was in Los Angeles, and Bill Parcells was in
Miami and wanted to do things a bit different. That train got
rolling, gained some steam, and got a little out of control. When we
both addressed the situation we said there was no problem and I was
being very honest.”
On whether exploring any entertainment
options:
“The organization and I have not talked about
anything besides football. It is football season, so there is no
entertainment business going on right now. There is no dancing,
except for celebrating big plays.”
On playing at the left end position:
“I have been on the left side in years past. I
was born and bred in this league as a right end, up until three or
four years ago when Nick Saban came to Miami and started moving me
around. While it will be different than what I have done for the
majority of my career, I have done plenty of it, and had success. I
will have to adjust my game, and we will find a way to do it, but it
will take some work.
On what he likes about the Redskins defense
and offense:
“There are a lot of good players here.
Unfortunately Phillip Daniels got hurt and is out, but the secondary
has Shawn Springs and Fred Smoot and London Fletcher is just a ball
player. I saw him twice a year when he was in Buffalo, so I know what
kind of player he is and the type of energy he brings. I like what I
see on the defense. On the offensive side of the ball, we have a good
young quarterback in Jason Campbell, Clinton Portis’ play speaks for
itself and the offensive line is good.”
On whether he will be able to play at the same
level this coming season as he has in the past:
“My game has not changed at all over the past 11
years. I have been very blessed to have great teammates around me
that have made me a better player and make some plays. Hopefully my
game will take a step up from last year because it is difficult to
play when you are fighting from behind all of the time, not playing
with leads and not being able to get after quarterbacks. What I love
to do is get after quarterbacks, chasing them, making them nervous and
making them do dumb things, which is what I look forward to doing.”
On whether he feels playing for the Washington
Redskins gives him a better chance to win this year:
“You never know what is going to happen in this
league. Yesterday was a difficult day for the Redskins organization.
I wish Miami the best, and they could turn around to be the New Orleans Saints of 2006. I know this is a good football team, they had
success last year and there is no reason to believe why we can’t have
it this year. As an athlete you want to win. There are a lot of
motivations for playing this game. Some people do it for money or
fame, which are all great, but the reason I play is to win. The
Redskins organization gives me a great chance to win this year.”
On how effective he is against the run:
“I stand here and might not look real big or
tough, but I like to mix it up. I will play the run as well as I can
for my size. People always want to categorize defensive ends as pass
rushers or run stoppers, but I am just a playmaker. I like to make
plays whether the opposing offense is running or throwing it.”
On playing against Zach Thomas as part of the
Redskins Cowboys rivalry:
“I have not talked to Zach, but I will see him in
a different way now. We were teammates for 11 years. I owe so much
to Zack for making me a better player. He is such a professional in
the way he approaches and plays the game, but he is with the Cowboys,
and those aren’t good words around here.”
On which were the best defensive ends he has
ever played with:
“I have had a lot of great teammates. Adewale Ogunleye was a good one, but the one I learned the most from and had
the most success playing with was Trace Armstrong. I came into the
league at a great time when he was a veteran and was still playing at
a high level and he taught me a lot.”
On whether he is prepared for training camp
from a conditioning aspect:
“My conditioning needs to improve, but I am like
everyone else on the field right now. You can get in shape running on
the field in t-shirts and shorts, and then there is playing shape. We
all need to get into playing shape, and I will get there.”
On how difficult it is to play with one team
throughout one’s entire career:
“It is increasingly difficult to play with one
organization with free agency and trades. In certain places you get
to the age where teams want to begin to send you out. There are
different philosophies in different cities. A lot of the past greats
have had to make moves. Emmitt Smith, Reggie White, and others have
had to do it. There are some that have played their whole careers
with one team like Dan Marino, but sometimes things have to change.”
On whether he is worried about how playing for
another team will affect the public’s perception of him:
“You always worry about perception because
sometimes it can become reality, particularly when the media paints a
picture a certain way, and you are not able to address it. You have
to look at the body of work and the type of guy he is. If he
continues to show you that he plays at a high level week-in and
week-out, year-in and year-out, people have to begin to give you the
benefit of the doubt.”
On whether people are upset at the lack of
animosity shown between the Miami Dolphins and him:
“I think people are disappointed that there is
not any strife or bickering. I told the media that there was never
any animosity between Bill Parcells, Jeff Ireland, or the Miami
Dolphins and me. In the game of football, the Washington Redskins and
Miami Dolphins are bigger than any one guy. I am one of the young
guys that respects the league and the people that came before us. I
know this lasts for only a certain amount of time, and that it is a
privilege and honor to play this game, so in no way would I ever put
myself above the league or any organization.”
On whether he has any Hollywood aspirations:
“Right now the only thing I am thinking about is
practice tomorrow and getting ready to play football. I am proud and
happy to be a Washington Redskin. All of those things will fall into
place. You can’t start thinking about the future to much. There may
be things down the road that come up, and when they do, I am sure we
will talk about it.”
On whether his situation leaving Miami was
similar to that of Dan Marino’s:
“I talked to Dan Marino about his situation, and
while our situations are similar, there are also a lot of
differences. He had a longer tenure before it came to the point where
he was asked to make a decision. He gave me advice about what he
thought would be the best thing for me and the Miami Dolphins. He has
been a big influence on my entire career.”