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Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Fred Taylor bends at the waist to touch his toes and feels the pulse and twitch of a hamstring that still needs time to mend.

Fred Taylor
Fred Taylor says he won't be completely healthy until he gets a few weeks of rest.
The Jacksonville Jaguars running back feels slower and more sluggish than on his best days, which makes what he did last Saturday all the more amazing.

His 90-yard touchdown run and 39-yard scoring reception were among the more electrifying plays in recent playoff history. In Jacksonville's 62-7 victory over Miami, Taylor re-established himself as one of the most dangerous players in the NFL.

And the scary part is -- he isn't running at 100 percent.

"Actually, I felt better in the Cincy game" two weeks previous, Taylor said. "I felt I was quick in the Cincy game, and I started to feel like it was coming back. Against Miami, it was one long run, a couple stops here and there, another two or three bursts here and there, then that reception. I didn't feel overly quick -- not as quick as I felt in the Cincy game -- but I felt good."

He looked good, too.

On the 90-yard run, he showed off a rare combination of elusiveness and speed. He stutter-stepped his way through a picket line of defenders, then got in the open field, where a burst of speed helped him outrun Dolphins safety Brock Marion.

The 39-yard TD reception came off a screen pass. Many experts said it was a textbook example of awful tackling on the Dolphins' part. Nevertheless, Taylor broke four tackles and weaved his way into the end zone for another highlight-reel score.

"It demonstrated not only his elusiveness, but his acceleration and what a dangerous threat he is once he's in that secondary," coach Tom Coughlin said. "He has presence about him. He sees people most of us might not see."

Oh, and by the way: "I still don't think he's at full strength yet," Coughlin said.

Pegged as possibly the NFL's next 2,000-yard rusher before the season, Taylor never came close. He sat out parts of 10 games with the injury that cropped up in October and never went away. He finished with 732 yards.

He had several reasons to be thrilled about his re-emergence. Among them are the reactions from his friends -- guys like Vince Carter of the Toronto Raptors, and former Florida players Reidel Anthony and Jacquez Green, who play for Tampa Bay and still hang out with Taylor whenever they can.

"All my boys get a chance to see the highlights," Taylor said. "It feels pretty good, especially when they open up the show, and I get a call from Vince Carter. He said, 'Man, you're trying to steal my show,' and all this crazy stuff. That feels pretty good."

The hamstring is another issue. Taylor says he still feels the soreness and knows only one thing will bring his leg back to full health.

"It won't be until after the season, until I get a chance to rest it two, three weeks in a row doing nothing," Taylor said. "I mean, barely walking. Just laying on the couch. I might gain 15 pounds in the process, but I don't care. I'll gain 15 pounds to get my legs back to 100 percent."

Taylor figures it will be 15 pounds worth gaining, especially if he has a Super Bowl ring to go with it.


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