LANDOVER, Md. -- The message was perfectly clear:

Sean Taylor is gone forever, and he is not forgotten.

For all of the No. 21 jerseys, twirling white towels and

handwritten signs in the stands Sunday, for all of the

red-and-yellow flowers and burning candles at a makeshift memorial

outside the stadium, for all of the pregame tributes to the Pro

Bowl safety, the most stark reminder of Taylor's plight came when

the Washington Redskins lined up on defense for the first time

since he was killed.

Instead of 11 Redskins on the field, as rules allow, there were

10.

When the visiting Buffalo Bills prepared to run their first play

on offense midway through the opening quarter, the man who replaced

Taylor in Washington's lineup, Reed Doughty, stood near coaches on

the sideline.

"It was important for the team to know that Sean was with us

that one last time on the field," Doughty said. "He'll always be

with us, but that was special."

After watching while Bills running back Fred Jackson gained 22

yards, Doughty entered for the next play -- and made the tackle.

Redskins coach Joe Gibbs wasn't aware ahead of time that players

were going to honor Taylor that way; assistant coach Gregg Williams

said his defensive coaches and unit decided Saturday night to do

it.

"We were going to let him ride with us one more time," said

Williams, who has described Taylor as being like a son to him.

The 24-year-old Taylor died Tuesday, a day after being shot at

his home in Florida during a burglary. The shock has yet to

dissipate for Taylor's teammates and the Redskins' fans, and the

grieving process continued on game day, from the cloudy, chilly

hours before the kickoff until the rain-soaked end of what turned

out to be a 17-16 comeback victory for Buffalo.

"I didn't show up to play this game, I showed up for a tribute

for my friend, to send him out right, and we found a way to mess it

up," said cornerback Fred Smoot, who teared up when he looked

where Taylor usually plays and didn't see him.

Before entering the stadium, some spectators talked about Taylor

in the present tense, as though it all hasn't quite registered.

Many wore Taylor's number -- on burgundy, white or black versions of

the jersey, on handmade T-shirts, on hats, on wristbands. A trio of

teenagers each wrote "RIP #21" on a cheek.

"You look around and see all the '21s,' you see his face on

some of the posters," defensive end Phillip Daniels said. "I

thought of Sean every second."

While tailgating did carry on in the parking lots before the

game -- with beer and grilled food, with chips and salsa -- things

were somewhat more subdued than usual. Stereos didn't blare. People

spoke instead of screamed.

"Oh, yeah, it's quiet," said Adrian Moore of Springfield, Va.,

who was wearing a long-sleeve white shirt with a yellow candle

drawn between the numbers 2 and 1. "It's a lot more somber than

normal."

A short walk away, people approached a memorial to Taylor where

the Redskins painted his number on a patch of grass near the team

store -- which was under orders not to sell jerseys or other items

with his name or number this day.

Starting at 7:30 a.m., fans began arriving to look at the

display, snap a photo of it and leave objects. The piles kept

spreading, with flowers in the team colors of burgundy and gold,

leather footballs, dripping candles, and posters with personal

messages. And on and on it went: balloons, teddy bears, hats. One

little child left a piece of paper with a poem.

There were plenty of other ways in which Taylor was saluted, off

the field of play and on.

After scoring the game's only touchdown, Redskins running back

Clinton Portis, also a teammate of Taylor's at the University of

Miami, lifted his jersey to reveal a T-shirt with a message in his

good friend's memory.

After making his first catch, Redskins receiver

Santana Moss --

another college teammate -- pounded his chest and put up a hand with

his thumb and ring finger tucked down and the other three fingers

raised. It was his way of saying, "21."

That number was on patches on the Redskins' jerseys and stickers

on their helmets; the Bills and other NFL teams wore it on their

helmets, too. Redskins owner Dan Snyder had the number on his black

overcoat, and coach Joe Gibbs had it on his burgundy jacket.

"It was a very emotional day for everybody," Bills coach Dick

Jauron said.

On a facade above one end zone, there was a new sign with

Taylor's name and uniform number in white writing, with pictures of

black ribbons at each end.

The Redskins Marching Band wore black hats and used instruments

covered with black sleeves while playing a funeral dirge, followed

by a slow, mournful rendition of the team's normally peppy theme

song, "Hail to the Redskins."

After the public address announcer noted that, "We gather here

today shocked and saddened," the scoreboard showed a 4-minute

video filled with photos of Taylor with his 1-year-old daughter and

footage of him playing football. In one of the most poignant

segments, Gibbs, Williams and players spoke into the camera as

though addressing Taylor directly.

After Taylor was shown saying, "My favorite part is when we

have home games and the fans are cheering," the crowd roared and

waved the white hand towels with the No. 21 they were given as they

entered the stadium.

Those tens of thousands of tiny towels swirled around and

around, a silent and moving tribute.