As Dolphins’ Jaelan Phillips rolls up sacks, here’s what makes him refreshingly unique
Even beyond this ongoing stretch of five sacks in four games, Dolphins outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips had long since validated his selection with the 18th pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
With 21 sacks in 41 career games — combined with 159 career quarterback pressures and much-improved play against the run — Phillips seems poised to cash in when he’s eligible for free agency in 16 months.
So when Phillips spoke recently about confidence issues and talking to sports psychologists and “not being afraid to be vulnerable” and not knowing if he would have been able to beat an All-Pro offensive lineman in a game, it might have been surprising to some.
But Phillips always has displayed an admirable willingness to discuss the mental challenges of his journey, the type of topic that some other players wouldn’t touch.
Missing time with injuries, primarily an oblique issue, created some self-doubt earlier this season, and he isn’t afraid to admit it.
“It was really tough for me; I’m not going to lie, pretty much that month where I missed three and a half games essentially and was dealing with all those injuries,” Phillips said last week. “It’s pretty crazy what it can do to you psychologically when it comes to confidence, when it comes to preparedness, just everything. I just felt like I was a shell of myself. Even when I was getting back onto the field, I was second-guessing everything.”
It reached the point, before the Oct. 22 Eagles game, that Phillips wondered if he would even be able to do much of anything positive against Eagles Pro Bowl tackle Lane Johnson, who had given up one sack in four years before allowing one to Phillips that night.
“Coming off injury and obviously a big prime-time game against the Eagles and going up against Lane Johnson — and my confidence had been kind of shot the weeks prior to that — I was really anxious leading up to it,” he said.
“Honestly, I was kind of second-guessing myself, thinking ‘damn, I don’t even know if I can beat this guy. I don’t even know if I can just straight win and get a sack.’ He obviously got me a few times, I got him a few times, but even just to be able to win against a guy like that gave me a lot of confidence.”
Phillips’ openness discussing such things makes him unique in a ‘macho’ world of professional athletes.
He said he has experienced those types of doubts, as he did before the Eagles game, “all the time” during his football journey.
“That’s literally the biggest battle I think for me personally and a lot of guys too,” he said. “For me personally, obviously staying healthy is a big thing. But even if I’m out there playing with little ailments, I can still do well.
“For me it’s all up here [pointing to his head]. It’s crazy how much of an impact your mentality can have. That’s something I’ve been dealing with really my whole life, but especially college, my rookie year. I think the biggest battle for me has been trying to find out how to stay even-keeled through the whole process.”
Phillips said he “has met with different confidence coaches. I’ve met with sports psychologists. I’ve done meditation, done different types of things….
“Everybody my whole life has told me that I’m my biggest enemy. When I do meet with those confidence coaches,.. I’ve already heard a lot of the things they have to tell me. But what’s more important is taking the 30 minutes or hour session to really just dive in within yourself and being present in that moment.”
Watching clips of his big plays also helps.
“The highlight videos for me actually help me a lot because it kind of puts me in a different perspective,” he said. “It puts me in an observer’s perspective where I’m not being as hard on myself. I’m just kind of looking at it as if I’m a fan or just an observer.
“I’m really critical of myself and what I’m doing. So even when I am playing well, I might not give myself that grace and that gratitude. Taking a step back and seeing highlight films on Twitter or just watching film and going through a cut up of my best rushes,... I think that helps immensely just in the whole confidence and inspiring me a bit.”
Being able to lean in on his friend and teammate, Bradley Chubb, also has helped.
“These last [five] weeks, he’s been going crazy and obviously feeling better now,” Phillips said. “But towards the beginning of the season,... we were always picking each other up. When he would be down, I would pick him up. The next day I’d be down, he’d pick me up. I’m like, ‘we can’t keep doing this. We just have to be happy.’
“To have a teammate who understands you and understands what you go through, it really just helps a lot. Although it is a macho sport, I don’t think we have that, especially on this team. We’re not afraid to be vulnerable. We’re not afraid to be honest and open with each other and I think that starts from the head down” with Mike McDaniel.
Even beyond Phillips’ five sacks in the past four games, there have been contributions elsewhere - including stout run defense, 26 tackles and his first career interception, when Raiders quarterback Aiden O’Connell lofted the ball a few yards in desperation, as Christian Wilkins began tackling him on fourth down.
“I got one in college and one now so far and it happened the same exact way,” Phillips said.
That interception at UM came against FSU quarterback Jordan Travis in a 52-10 Hurricanes win. That was his only interception in college or the NFL before the Raiders game.
“The quarterback.. just threw the ball up,” Phillips said of O’Connell. “And I happened to be at the right place at the right time, so clearly my karma is all right.”
And after a bout with self doubt, life is good.
“I feel really happy where I’m at right now.”
This story was originally published November 21, 2023 at 11:32 AM.
