Phillips Fallout: Long Road Ahead But Dolphins History Encouraging
The Miami Dolphins indeed have absorbed their biggest injury loss of the season.
Now that head coach Mike McDaniel has confirmed the worst-case scenario of Jaelan Phillips having suffered a torn Achilles tendon in the 34-13 victory against the New York Jets on Friday, the focus shifts to the future and Phillips' recovery.
The third-year outside linebacker will be placed on injured reserve sometime over the next several days and he will not be designated to return at any point, even though the Dolphins have two of those moves left.
THE ROAD AHEAD FOR PHILLIPS
McDaniel indicated that Phillips flew home with his teammates Friday night, hours after sustaining his unlucky injury when he started rushing Jets quarterback Tim Boyle.
The injury took place on the same field where future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers went down with a similar injury in Week 1 of this season, and the Jets quarterback apparently is of the mind-set to try to help Phillips in any way he can.
“I do know there was some information distributed in the periphery, because there was a lot of stuff going on," McDaniel said Saturday. "I don’t know him personally but I’ve heard great things about Aaron Rodgers and the type of human being he is. I think he was working some channels to get in touch with Jaelan as of last night through a couple of people that have some relationships with him. He’s a smart guy that is not afraid to chase the most exotic science. I think that’s kind of something that, specifically Jaelan Phillips, he’s not one of those old school, ‘I’ve always done it this way,’ type of guys. He would be open to whatever.
"I think player relationships are important for the actual tangible rehabilitation, but it’s also important to talk to the guys that have been through similar situations. You’re a performance athlete that needs to maintain mental stability and health with regards to being a professional athlete that can’t be an athlete at the time. I think all of those things are very important. I know as of last night, there were some things developing, but I don’t really know those tangibly yet.”
PHILLIPS' FUTURE
This isn't the first time the Dolphins have lost a star pass rusher to an Achilles injury because the same thing happened to Cameron Wake in a game at New England midway through the 2015 season.
And if there's anything that could make Dolphins fans feel better about Phillips' injury is how well Wake bounced back from his own injury.
After being injured in October of 2015, Wake was used in a part-time role at the start of the 2016 season but he played every game, started 11 and finished with 11.5 sacks, which matched his highest total for his final seven NFL seasons.
We also could point to cornerback Brent Grimes, who signed with the Dolphins as a free agent in 2013 after tearing an Achilles in the previous opener and proceeded to earn three Pro Bowl invitations in three seasons with Miami.
One thing for sure, McDaniel is confident Phillips will attack his rehab and recovery with the same kind of work ethic that made him a first-round pick in the 2021 draft and was a key to the success he was enjoying with the Dolphins this season.
"I think our players understand that the only way that we can kind of do right by Jaelan Phillips – it’s the lesser of evils, is the worst-case scenario is for him to be going through his rehab and watching us not fully take advantage of our opportunity. So there’s an element of people playing for him, I think. We’re all very aware of, this is something very commonplace in the National Football League in terms of, you don’t generally go through a season without losing a player or two that is one of your core players. So it’s something that is a part of the journey.
"It’s really unfortunate for Jaelan. However, there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s fully capable and I know his mindset will be that, as weird as it sounds now, you’ve got to figure out a way that it can be the best thing that ever happened to you. And that’s the challenge that we all have when something like that kind of really turns your world upside down. It’s tough to kind of get there, but eventually you do, and we find different ways to make it something that has helped and that will be a defining moment in a good way. So the challenge is long, but he has all his teammates, all the support. We all know that he’ll come back with vengeance when his time comes. But he’s got a long journey, for sure.”
