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Jaelan Phillips – October 28, 2021 Download PDF version

Thursday, October 28, 2021

LB Jaelan Phillips

(I wanted to ask you about the event over at the Lotus House you participated in the other day. How was that?) – “That was incredible. So for those who don’t know, me and Duke Riley and a couple other staff members from the Dolphins went down to the Lotus House, which is a shelter for women and children in need. We went down there and basically all the kids filled out a wish list of Halloween costumes that they wanted. So we got them all their costumes and we got to hang out with them and do arts and crafts and tutoring and stuff. It was a blessing to be able to hang out with them. Kids are so impressionable at a young age and so full of joy, so it was just awesome to be able to go down there and talk to them a little bit. There were some football players and stuff, so it was a really good time.”

(Obviously you played less last week. Was the sense you got from Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer and the linebacker coaches – was it because you were limited in practice last week as opposed to gameplan stuff?) – “Yeah, that has to do with it. We also have gameplan differences every week, so you never know how it’s really going to play out. I just have to stay ready myself whenever my name is called.”

(I don’t think we had you last time you guys played the Bills, meeting Greg Rousseau on the other side. Although you guys never played on the same D-line because you were sitting out that one year – what’s it like a former teammate, rookies in the same class going up against each other on opposite sides?) – “Yeah, I mean throughout this whole journey, I’ve been incredibly proud of Greg (Rousseau). He’s an amazing kid. Really great guy. Genuine guy so I’m happy for his success regardless of whether he’s on the opposite team or whatever the situation may be. But he’s the enemy this week so got to get after it. (laughter)”

(What was that year like at Miami? DE Greg Rousseau was having this great season and then you were taking that year off to kind of rebuild your body after retirement. What were you able to take away from what he did that season?) – “It was crazy because every game goes by and you’re just like ‘oh, Greg had two sacks, Greg had a sack or whatever,’ and then at the end of the year he has 15.5 and you’re just like, ‘wow, that’s pretty impressive for a freshman.’”

(You added a couple of other Canes. I don’t know how much you know them, but S Sheldrick Redwine and RB Duke Johnson joined the team. How often were they around while you were there?) – “Sheldrick (Redwine) was around more often because he had just left in ’18 obviously. So I’ve actually talked to him a few times prior to him coming here, but it’s great to have some Canes. Both the guys are extremely hard-workers and you can already see Sheldrick, for example, running down making plays today on defense and Duke (Johnson) doing his thing, too. So it was great.”

(Were you 10 years old when RB Duke Johnson was playing at UM?) – “I don’t even know. (laughter) All I know is I see like the Canes Access and stuff will post throwback clips and I know he had one huge game. I think it was against Duke or something like that – ironically enough – but the camera quality doesn’t look like it was from anything recent. (laughter)”

(You’ve probably never seen RB Frank Gore run in college.) – “(laughter) Honestly. That’s funny.”

(Just your thoughts just seven games into your pro career how you’re doing, do you think?) – “I feel like I need to do more, to be honest with you. I definitely feel like I need to continue to improve and play better. I’m not going to keep saying, ‘oh, I’m feeling comfortable.’ I feel like I’m comfortable at this point. I just need to elevate my game. That’s all that is.”

(Do you have contact with with Bills DE Greg Rousseau these days at all?) – “We jersey swapped after the first game and I congratulated him after his pick and stuff last week. But like I said we don’t fraternize with the enemy. (laughter) No reason to talk to him right now.”

(I know gap integrity is important, but when you’re facing a quarterback like Bills QB Josh Allen who can extend and make so many plays, how important is it against a guy like that to make sure you’re being really – having that rush and gap integrity in the pass-rush game?) – “Yeah, that’s always important. Like you said, against mobile quarterbacks obviously, that’s kind of an added part of the game that you kind of have to worry about. But we’re just going to stay true to our gameplan, stay true to our assignments and play our asses off.”

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