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Jaelan Phillips – September 5, 2024 Download PDF version

Thursday, September 5, 2024

LB Jaelan Phillips

(Mentally just knowing the hard work you put in to even get to this point where you just never even knew if you were going to start Week 1, how does that feel to you to get to this point to begin with?) – “It feels great. Like I said I’m just grateful. It’s been a long road and a lot of hard work obviously. I’ve been busting my ass every single day for nine months now, so it’s very rewarding to be able to get out on the field and I’m excited.”

(And what are you looking forward to just facing the Jags in general of getting the season started and in front of fans to begin with?) – “Yeah, I’m just really excited to get out there and obviously the energy from the crowd and stuff is going to be surreal, but I’m just excited to dip my foot in the water and get back used to playing and what it feels like and stuff like that.”

(If someone had told you as you were leaving that field in New York that you would be back here for Week 1, you would have said what?) – “I don’t know, I don’t ever really think that – I didn’t think that I was going to be out until halfway through the season. I kind of figured – the doctors told me that I could potentially be back earlier so that was kind of always my mindset, that I was going to be back for Week 1 so I wouldn’t be really surprised. My body has taken care of me and I’ve taken care of my body so it’s been great.”

(Are you interested in seeing what it’s going to look like because there’s a lot of new guys on this defense?) – “Yeah, I’ve already kind of seen what it looks like just in practice and it’s a lot of good things happening. Guys have been working their ass off and I’m really excited to see them in a live game obviously.”

(New DC. Obviously last year was different, but what kind of energy has he brought, Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver brought to you guys and this defense? He talks a lot about he’s waiting for the world to see what you guys can bring.) – “He’s great. He has incredible energy. He’s a people’s person. He loves the game, he loves us. So it’s really been an incredible experience with him. Like we’ve gotten so close in a short amount of time and I just can’t wait for everybody to see what this defense and what our character is like. It’s going to be great.”

(Separate from the injury just Week 1, does the excitement of being out there kind of feel like you’re a little kid again?) – “Yeah, it’s a long season and early in the season obviously you want to set the tone and you want to play well, but the longer I’ve been in the league, the more I realize how important the ending stretch is, like the last part of the season. So I think it’s going to be good for us to gain momentum and really just work out the kinks. Obviously we’re going to have some adversity and it’s going to build our team’s character by dealing with that adversity early in the season, but yeah, it’s been great.”

(Last thing – your former team didn’t have too many kinks in the opening.) – “Yeah, they’re doing great. Canes are back, baby. Stamping it out.”

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