Rookie reaping rewards of steady progression
Dolphins rookie linebacker Jaelan Phillips has gradually improved through four games, registering his first sack against the Indianapolis Colts in last Sunday’s 27-17 loss.
When Dolphins rookie outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips is closing in on sacking a quarterback, he’s no different than an infant with a snack.
“It’s like getting a taste of something sweet,” Phillips said Monday. “Like if you eat a bite of a cookie, you’re not about to stop eating the cookie. Honestly, it feels like when you’re getting pressure and stuff like that, it makes you want to do more. It makes you want to get to the quarterback. It makes you want to get a strip-sack, just to continue to create havoc and have an impact on the game.”
Within last Sunday’s bitter 27-17 home loss to the Indianapolis Colts, there was something to savor for Phillips: his best NFL game to date. Phillips was credited with a half sack, the first of his career, along with three quarterback hits and two combined tackles.
“I think he’s playing with a lot more confidence over the last couple of weeks,” coach Brian Flores said Monday. “I think that’s the big piece here. He’s playing fast, he’s being aggressive. It’s not perfect, but he’s definitely playing with more confidence. He’s playing better.”
Phillips’ performance was the culmination of gradual progression since he was selected as the No. 18 overall pick in the 2021 draft. Though an undisclosed injury sidelined him for a portion of training camp, the coaching
staff kept rotating him with the first-team defense. He’s played no more than 59 percent of the defensive snaps in a game — against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 3 — and played only 29 snaps against Indianapolis but made the most of the opportunity, recording six
total pressures. According to Pro Football Focus, Phillips has a pass rush win rate of 19.9 percent, which trails only the Dallas Cowboys’ Micah Parsons among rookies.
“The more experience he has, the better off he’ll
be,” defensive coordinator Josh Boyer said Tuesday. “And that’s true for all young guys. You can’t buy experience. You’ve got to go out there and experience it. I know he’s learning things as he goes and there’s a lot of things for us to build on, and there’s some things that we’ve got to get corrected.”
Back in training camp, when asked about his pass rush ability, Phillips said, “I can kill you with speed, kill you with power.” But he has acknowledged in recent weeks that his path to pass rush success hasn’t
so much been about beating offensive linemen with either.
“There are not a ton of guys in the league where you’re just going to run around or you’re not going to bully them,” he said.
Instead, it’s been about marrying the two and seeing what works against different players. He’s also said his football knowledge has increased exponentially as he has taken on more roles in run defense and coverage.
“I’d say that I’m just starting to get more comfortable just in terms of within the game, being able to work different moves, being able to just consistently get off the ball and consistently try to
create pressure,” Phillips said.
“I feel like just getting in the game flow and seeing what’s working, seeing what’s not, I’m starting to just kind of understand what I need to be doing to be, like I said, creating pressure.”
With Phillips set to line up across Tom Brady, a sack could be even more memorable for the rookie, but he said he won’t let the aura of the future Hall of Famer faze him.
“Tom has been in the league 21 years? And I’m 22 years old this year,” Phillips said. “It’s pretty crazy obviously to have the opportunity to play against somebody I’ve been growing up my whole life
watching. I can remember all of the Super Bowl parties at the house when I’m 8 years old or 10 years old, watching him dominate.
“But to be honest, coming into the game, I’m not about to be starstruck. You can’t really focus on ‘Oh my gosh, this is Tom Brady.’ Or ‘this is Leonard Fournette.’ Everybody is nameless and faceless, so you’ve got to prepare for everybody just like they’re anybody else. At the end of the day, our execution is what matters, so we’ve just got to go out there and execute. I’ve got to go out there and execute. It will be fun, no doubt.”