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Jaelan Phillips – September 8, 2022 Download PDF version

Thursday, September 8, 2022

LB Jaelan Phillips

(Have you picked up on any tendencies of a Bill Belichick offense or what they try to throw at teams with good pass rushers that might be able to stop the strength of an opposing defense?) – “Yes, I mean we obviously do a lot of studying, both the team schematics and the team tendencies, but also individual tendencies and everything like that. You still have to prepare even more. Preparation goes all the way up until gameday, but yes, I feel good.”

(How excited are you for – I know it’s Week 1. You’ve played in the stadium a lot. It’s no different to you, it essentially home for you. But do you still get butterflies?) – “For sure. At the end of the day, we’re entertainers and it’s a performance every time we go out there. So it’s natural to get performance anxiety, but I really just try to rely on my preparation and my confidence and just try to clear my mind before the game and just go out there and have fun. At the end of the day, it’s a game we’ve all been playing since we were seven years old or eight years old. So it’s a big moment, but it’s fun. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

(For your preparation, I think last year you had 8.5 sacks if I’m not mistaken. Do you use that as like the benchmark of, “That’s where I need to pass that each year?”) – “I try not to look at numbers too much, because I think being result-oriented is just a recipe for disaster. If you have this idea in your head, anything less than that is going to throw you off. So I think my whole thing is really just trying to take it day to day and focus on my preparation and focus on my process so that at the end of the day, I think it all culminates. You usually get the results you want at the end of the day.”

(A month of practice and training camp games, how have you felt with the slightly lower weight against the run? And how has your body responded to that?) – “Funny enough, I was a little bit lighter in the offseason and stuff, but when camp came around, there was so much good food around here, I can’t help myself. (laughter) But I feel great. I feel healthy and fast and in good shape.”

(I know one goal in Year Two, obviously ideally within team success, playing a little bit more every down. Is that something that you have a sense from Defensive Coordinator Josh Boyer yet is going to be a reality? Do you know where you stand with that?) – “Well the good thing is you guys will see it in three days.”

(We will, exactly. Is it something you feel good about that maybe the snaps will go up at least a little bit?) – “Yes, I mean I feel that whatever (Defensive Coordinator) Josh (Boyer) and all of our defensive coaches have in mind for me, I’m just going to go out there and perform it to a T. Obviously, I’m hoping to be able to be in there as much as I can so I can have the most impact and get a lot of opportunities, but ultimately whatever is best for the team, I have 100 percent faith in all of our outside linebackers and our d-line and everything. So no matter what happens, we’ll be good.”

(With this offseason, being that all-around outside linebacker, doing different things and not just rushing the passer, how do you feel you are going into Week 1 in that regard with the progress you made?) – “I think that I’m starting to reach into, I’ve said this before, but kind of talk about reaching into a deeper bag of tricks. I think last year I relied a little bit too much on strictly bull rushing, speed to power and things like that. I think the more versatile I can be as a pass rusher ultimately is going to benefit me and the team. So just talking to Terron (Armstead), working with him, getting a lot of advice from Melvin (Ingram), different people, just to be able to kind of hone-in on my craft and just improve on all those aspects.”

(Any first impressions of UM?) – “Of UM (University of Miami)? I mean, hey, they did their thing last weekend. So I’m excited to see these next couple, especially when they get to (Texas) A&M – that’s going to be a good test. So yes, a lot of exciting things happening, for sure.”

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