Optimism with Phillips ... But Also a Reality Check

Miami Dolphins edge defender Jaelan Phillips offers an encouraging update about his recovery, but questions remain

Jaelan Phillips provided some encouraging for Miami Dolphins fans everywhere over the weekend, but what did it all mean in the big picture.

Interviewed on an ESPN Plus broadcast of the spring game of his alma mater, the University of Miami, Phillips provided an update on his recovery from the torn Achilles injury that cut short his 2023 season.

“Rehab has been going great,” Phillips said. “I’m just attacking it every day and I’ll definitely be back healthy for the season and — God willing — stay healthy for the season.”

The big question here, one that ESPN did not address (per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald), is whether Phillips meant he’d be healthy for the start of the 2024 season or at some point in the 2024, though we certainly can understand fans choosing to believe Option A.

A REALISTIC TIMETABLE FOR PHILLIPS

Being ready for the start of the regular season would be quite an accomplishment for Phillips, given the normal recovery time for an Achilles tendon injury and the fact he was injured on Black Friday, Nov. 24, to be precise.

That’s especially true if by “back healthy,” Phillips meant being back to 100 percent — or at least close to it.

Having Phillips back to being Jaelan Phillips obviously would be huge for the Dolphins, who currently have a major question mark at the edge defender position because of the significant late-season injuries that not only Phillips but Bradley Chubb and Cameron Goode suffered in 2023.

THE CAMERON WAKE EXAMPLE

Phillips is far from the first NFL player who’s had to come back from an Achilles injury, and the most recent example for the Dolphins involved another star pass rusher, Cameron Wake.

While Phillips was injured Nov. 24, Wake’s injury occurred Oct. 29 in the 2015 season.

Wake did meet the goal of being ready for the start of the next regular season, but his usage and production is what need to be recognized here.

A full-time starter for the Dolphins from his second season in 2010, Wake came off the bench for the first five games of the 2016 season and averaged 24.4 defensive snaps (with 36 being the highest total in those five games).

Wake also managed only one sack in those five games, during which the Dolphins went 1-4.

In Week 6, Wake returned to the starting lineup, his snap count picked up and re-emerged as the pass-rushing force he had been, recording 10.5 sacks over the next 10 games to help the Dolphins go 9-1 on their way to a playoff berth in Adam Gase’s first season as head coach.

We don’t need to tell Dolphins fans just what kind of physical specimen Wake was and how he took care of his body, but the same could be said of Phillips, who just might be the most physically impressive player on the current roster.

Where Phillips has a clear advantage is that he’s turning only 25 in May, whereas Wake was 34 at the time he was rehabbing his Achilles injury.

The bottom line is that every case is different and we just don’t know exactly when Phillips will be back in the lineup or when he’ll be back at 100 percent.

What we do know is that the signs so far have been positive, and that can only be viewed as a positive.