The buy-in was complete, we saw it with our own eyes.
Alontae Taylor accepted his role as slot corner for the New Orleans Saints, even though the three-year veteran initially bucked at the position switch from outside corner and wasn't shy about saying so.
But during OTAs, minicamp and training camp, Taylor let loose and began to reveal his full range of potential inside, which included rolling up three sacks in the season opener against Carolina; his four sacks have him tied for the team lead entering Sunday's noon game against Carolina (1-7) at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.
At heart, though, Taylor remains an outside corner. And that's where he'll be Sunday, as the Saints have turned to him with starters Paulson Adebo (leg surgery, out for the season) and Marshon Lattimore (hamstring, did not practice Wednesday or Thursday) unavailable.
It's not the first time necessity has dictated that Taylor shift back outside, so his outside-inside-outside journey wasn't foreign.
"I'm back at home, I guess you could say," Taylor said with a smile.
But more than relishing the opportunity, Taylor is trying to figure out how to be more effective for the Saints (2-6), who have lost six straight games.
"I'm really trying to figure out what can I do, to maybe give us a better chance of winning games," he said. "I've kind of been consistent, and I've kind of had these bad plays here and there. I'm looking at the negative side of it for me, personally, and saying, how can you take away those negative things?
"Really just taking it one day at a time, one rep at a time and I'm trying to figure it out, still. But I think the best thing I can do right now is continue to fly around. I'm in this different leadership role now with our corners down, so I have to make sure I give a better example to the younger guys and lead them in the best way possible."
That was a little more difficult for Taylor to do his first two seasons, when the buy-in was incomplete. Maturation has allowed him to dive into whichever role he occupies, and to do it well.
This season he has career highs in forced fumbles (two), tackles for loss (seven), quarterback hits (six), seven passes defended, 45 tackles and a new role as a leader in the secondary.
"At this point I guess I'm used to it, right?" he said. "I've always said I'm a corner, (but) I've gotten comfortable playing the nickel. I feel like I've done really well with that.
"Being back outside, it's not like I have to figure my feet out or figure something out. I feel like I'm comfortable out there and with (safety) Ugo (Amadi) playing in that nickel right now, I can communicate with him. Being back outside, I have the sideline now so technique is going to look a little different from me.
"But I'm in a different leadership role now, so playing nickel and playing corner is something that I have to continue to explain to the other guys, whatever their role is. If they forget they can look outside to me and I can make sure I get them where they need to be."
Taylor mainly has been where he should have been, despite the overall numbers of the Saints' defense, which is allowing a league-high 392.8 yards per game.
He leads the league in "havoc" plays, a metric created by The 33rd Team which combines tackles for loss, sacks, interceptions, forced fumbles and pass breakups. The 33rd Team was founded by former NFL executives Mike Tannenbaum and Joe Banner.
"I think I've had my opportunities," Taylor said. "I've missed two sacks; I could have been up there in sacks. Last week I missed two interceptions that I could have had that would have put me even higher. I've found my opportunities.
"I feel like earlier in the season I seized those opportunities and I did well with them, and I think these past couple of weeks I've just been one step away. I'm just one play away from making a change for the team, and so that's why I talk about where can I fix where I'm at to make a difference for the team and give the team a better chance at winning.
"So that's all cool and great but I've had the opportunities and I'm in the right position, and D.A. (Coach Dennis Allen) has put me in position to make plays. And I've made some, but I've also missed some."
