Kelly: Players such as Jordan Phillips need to set the tone for Dolphins | Opinion
There’s something charming, if not majestic, about watching one of the team’s biggest, strongest players sprint across the field to be the first in line for every drill.
And not just once in awhile. Or once in a day. Every time, every drill.
That has been Jordan Phillips’ norm every time the whistle blow during practices, and the Miami Dolphins’ second-year nose tackle isn’t focused on impressing his new coaches.
The 6-foot-3, 305-pounder has been doing these full-speed, between-period sprints at football practice since his rookie season. Hell, since his days at the University of Maryland.
It’s his norm, and he has an interesting way of explaining why.
“It’s a mind-set, you know? You got any pets?” Phillips asked the assembled media earlier this summer when his full-speed sprints were brought up.
“So say, for example, your pet gets loose and just runs out [the house into] the road. Are you just going to get up and just slowly go about [getting them] or are you going to run?” Phillips continued. “You got to have urgency about everything that you do. This is a fast and physical game so you can’t walk on the field. You can’t just slow jog. No, you got to take the field because at the end of the day, there’s a guy that’s lined up in front of you who is going to try to kill you.
“It’s a mind-set,” he said. “It’s a mentality.”
A mentality that will hopefully benefit the Dolphins sooner than later because Phillips has been one of the young players setting a tone for the franchise this offseason.
His work ethic has caught the attention of Miami’s new coaches, and his teammates, old and new.
“I think one of the first things he got in trouble for was squatting too much,” fellow defensive lineman Zach Sieler said, referring to the team’s offseason workouts in the weight room. “He’s worked his tail off this offseason. To see his growth from last year to this year has been incredible,”
The hope is that growth benefits the franchise this season, and it needs to for South Florida’s NFL franchise to take the next step in this rebuild.
If we’re being honest about 2026 we must point out that this Dolphins franchise reset, this rebuild that is expected to be painful because of the amount of money ($179 million) allocated to players absent from Miami’s roster, didn’t start this offseason with the hiring of general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley.
It actually began in the 2025 offseason when Miami put owner Steve Ross’ wallet away, taking a fiscal approach in free agency that spring, then drafted and invested playing time and starting opportunities into Phillips, 2025 first-round pick Kenneth Grant, offensive guard Jonah Savainaea, cornerback Jason Marshall Jr., safety Dante Trader Jr., quarterback Quinn Ewers and defensive lineman Zeek Biggers, the rest of the 2025 draft class.
And more importantly, when the franchise stuck with those rookies throughout their struggles on the field in 2025.
It’s also when the Dolphins chose to invest playing time and significant roles into young players such as left tackle Patrick Paul, receiver Malik Washington, tight end Greg Dulcich, pass rusher Chop Robinson and cornerbacks Juju Brents, Storm Duck and Ethan Bonner, letting each play through growing pains.
The hope is that the fruit for those tough times, the lessons learned from their struggles, which were privately used to justify the Dolphins’ 1-6 start last season, ripens the players faster, helping some of these youngsters blossom into reliable starters, if not standout players.
Paul, a 2024 second-round pick who had a solid season as Miami’s starting left tackle in 2025, is the prime example of what can be if the player begins to turn the corner, and health isn’t a factor.
Pau is now viewed as one of Miami’s main building blocks. This season is about the search for more of those.
Most of the above-mentioned players have flashed talent that hints they belong in starting roles. The biggest question moving forward is who will become consistent about how they show up.
Who else will sprint to every drill as if being the last player to line up will cost them their jobs, status?
That’s the mind-set, the mentality the Dolphins need in 2026 if this team plans to charter a new course for this franchise.
And it’s players such as Phillips who need to lead that way.
