Phillips Is Focused on Present But Not Ignoring Future

After two straight seasons with a season-ending injury, Miami Dolphins edge rusher Jaelan Phillips isn’t taking anything for granted — he’s focused on making the most of the present.

“Anytime you go through something that hard and you come out the other side of it, you're gonna have a different type of appreciation,” Phillips told reporters following practice Friday. “For me, I'm just like, I'm trying to get back into just like feeling the joy and just the excitement for playing the game.”

The former Miami Hurricanes standout is recovering from a torn ACL suffered last year and a torn Achilles in 2023. It hasn’t been easy for him to spend so much time on the sidelines in recent seasons.

“When you're hurt, coming back from injury, it's hard to just be mindless and just focus on energy, focus on playing when you're coming back, whether it's trust, whether it's the pain, whatever the case is. And so for me, I feel like I'm always at my best when I'm just out there having fun.”

Phillips mentioned he’s been able to focus more on having fun during the first week of training camp, and that he feels pretty good with his health.

Phillips’ mentality of focusing on the present seems to be a theme in the edge rusher room, which includes Bradley Chubb — a fellow veteran coming off a season-ending injury — and Chop Robinson, who Phillips said could be a Defensive Player of the Year contender.

“I mean, we don't really look forward in terms of like we really got to stay present and really the only thing we talk about is holding each other accountable every single day and being there for each other and lifting each other up and making sure that we're holding each other to our standard and that we're bringing the energy and bringing that dog every day,” Phillips said.

“We call ourselves the big dogs for a reason. We've got to kind of be the engine for this defense and for this team.”

Phillips’ Complicated Future

Not only does Phillips need to deal with his injury concerns, he needs to think about his contract. Phillips will play the 2025 season on his fifth-year option, meaning he’ll hit unrestricted free agency if he doesn’t sign an extension.

“I think that's really kind of a fatal error to do in any capacity in any way, is looking too far forward into the future,” Phillips said. “And so for me, you know, I'm not like, I'm not thinking about the numbers. I'm not thinking about the contract.”

Obviously, the Dolphins would love to keep Phillips around in the long term. When healthy, he’s a premier player at one of the league’s most important positions. He had 8.5 and 7.5 sacks in his first two seasons, respectively.

And before tearing his Achilles in 2023, he had 6.5 sacks in just eight games. Phillips was always productive, but it really looked like he was taking the next step before the injury.

Although Phillips said he’s not thinking about his contract, the importance of this coming season isn’t lost on him.

“I'm aware of the scope of what this year could be for the rest of my life,” Phillips said. “But at the end of the day, looking forward to that is not gonna put me in a position to achieve that.”

If Phillips stays healthy and produces close to how he did before his injuries, it would be surprising if the Dolphins didn’t make a solid effort to retain him.

“There's nothing like this football environment when it comes to camaraderie,” Phillips said. “Being in a locker room, being here for 12 hours a day with the guys, it's just really kind of an invaluable experience. It's something – you have work friends and stuff, but really, this experience is pretty unique.”

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