Jaelan Phillips – December 26, 2022
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Monday, December 26, 2022
LB Jaelan Phillips
(Your unit played well as a group and kept you in the game. What would you say is the biggest frustration now from a defensive standpoint against things that maybe you’re close but not exactly where you want?) – “I just think that in general, we’re not playing as well as we should be with the talent that we have, with the coaching staff that we have, with the bond that we have. You can attribute that to a lot of things but I think at the end of the day, we just really have to lock back in and execute the small details. That’s really what it always comes down to is just executing small details. We shouldn’t sit here and be like, ‘Oh, the defense played well so we don’t have any accountability.’ It’s on us as well. If we allow less points then we win the game. I think that all of us on the whole entire team need to look at ourselves in the mirror and take accountability and do what we’ve got to do to move forward.”
(What are some of those small details that you or others at your position want to focus on?) – “I think it dives a little bit more into schematics than I’m comfortable talking about, just in terms of plays and things like that, and execution. But at the end of the day, it is just execution and technique, fundamentals and things like that. It’s not some crazy thing that we can’t overcome. It’s just executing.”
(This team has gone back and forth all year winning a few, losing a few, winning a few, losing a few. How do you describe that? Why do you think that’s happening?) – “I wish I could tell you. I know I sound like a broken record but it comes back to executing and it’s playing complementary football and taking advantage of momentum. Football is such a crazy game because there are so many things within each game that could swing the momentum of the game and change the outcome. I think at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what’s happened this year. Obviously it’s been a rollercoaster of emotions but I think for this next stretch, we really just got to even ourselves out, remember who we are and just focus on what we can control.”
(You’re the team’s Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year nominee. Getting nominated for that award, what does it mean to you?) – “It means the world to me. I try to do a lot to help out the community and encourage other people to do the same. So I think that getting that recognition just pushes that platform forward. It’s not about personal accolades and recognition like that. It’s about using my platform to inspire change and to encourage other people to come along with me and do the same thing.”
(With the team closing out the month of December winless, you have a fresh start on Jan. 1 facing the Patriots. How much are you looking forward to that matchup to have another chance to win?) – “I’m definitely looking forward to it. We just take it week by week. I’m excited to play a divisional opponent and obviously the Dolphins and Patriots’ tradition is rich. We’re excited to go up there in Foxboro and play some great football.”
(What do you think of these two most pivotal games now coming against divisional opponents and a lot of familiarity between them?) – “Each game is huge and these two games, we’ve got to win them. We’re going to go up there and give our best effort, give it our best shot.”
(Your thoughts on how your group has done blitzing? It hasn’t been quite as successful as a group as last year. I know losing S Brandon Jones is a factor. Just thoughts on how blitzing is done in general for you guys?) – “I think we’ve made the most of some opportunities when we get them. I think that obviously having a depleted defense doesn’t help in terms of original schemes, so I think we’ve kind of had to pivot on certain things. I think we’ve done a really good job of adjusting and being resilient. No matter what happens, we’re always fighting, we’re always giving our best effort. Kudos to the coaches and to my teammates for being able to do that. It’s hard. Not a lot of people can.”
(What were your takeaways from the first game against New England? Obviously a very long time ago. How much does that distance between games affect things one way or another?) – “It was a long time ago so I’m going to have to get back in the film and look at what we were doing. The funny thing is football changes so much throughout the year. So the Patriots we’re playing this week is not the same team we were playing the first week of the season. They’re not going to run a lot of the same things. They’re going to look at things we’ve done well and things we haven’t done well. It’s kind of like a completely fresh game. We’ll just prepare like we do any other week and go in there.”
(So you’ll watch more of their tape against the Bengals on Saturday than the opener?) – “Yeah, just throughout the whole season in general, teams that kind of run similar defenses to us and certain looks that we might anticipate. I think we’re going to do a great job in preparation like we always do. The coaches will put us in the position that we have to be in so it all comes down to executing on Sunday.”
