This time a year ago, he was preparing for what would be his final days as a football player.

Redskins safety Sean Taylor died late last November, a day after being shot in his Miami home. But as they prepare for the upcoming season, the Redskins haven't forgotten their former teammate.

"Sean has been a tremendous force here in DC, and here with the Redskins," says head coach Jim Zorn. "We'll just remember him continually as we go on."

The Redskins drafted Taylor out of the University of Miami with the fifth overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft. He was in the midst of his best season as a pro, but rehabbing a knee injury, when he was killed.

Taylor was posthumously named to the Pro Bowl, and teammates Chris Samuels, Chris Cooley, and Ethan Albright all wore No. 21 in his memory.

Zorn is in his first year as Redskins head coach. He was serving as quarterbacks coach with the Seattle Seahawks when Taylor was killed.

He encountered a similar situation in 2003, when the five-year-old son of Seahawks quarterback Trent Dilfer lost his battle with heart disease.

"I made it a point to not ever say, 'Trent, how are you moving on? How are you getting on with life now,'" recalls Zorn. "Because really, it's a devastating occurrence. Lives never are the same."

NFL policy won't allow the team to wear the uniform patches they added last season, following Taylor's death, and Zorn says the team isn't planning any on-field ceremony in the safety's memory.

But Zorn says Taylor will still have a daily presence.

"We're going to keep his locker here and in the stadium just like it was. We're not going to mess with that," the coach says. "So those kinds of things will continue on."