How Falcons CB Clark Phillips III’s Early Mornings Have Paid Off

He’s an early morning riser, and it’s starting to pay off for the freshly recovered Atlanta Falcons cornerback Clark Phillips III.

“When I come into my office, I promise you five minutes later in the morning, Clark Phillips walks in,” said Falcons secondary coach Justin Hood. “Asking a ton of questions, his notebook is full.”

Phillips returns for his fourth NFL season, a year removed from a Week 4 triceps injury that sidelined him for the remainder of 2025.

The former fourth-round NFL draft pick has been a full-go participant all of Atlanta’s training camp in Flowery Branch. He’s positioning himself as a key piece in the secondary as final roster cuts approach on Sunday, Aug. 30.

“Hell of a lot of progress,” Phillips assessed his training camp output after a season-long injury.

“From an injury standpoint, getting back on the field. And then also the mastery of the defense, just learning, taking that next step. That was the biggest part for me last season, taking a backseat, being injured, being out. We took that very seriously last year, and feel like it was an apparent thing now that I’m in camp and able to make some plays. I feel good, man.”

Falcons star wide receiver Drake London has gotten a front-row seat to Phillip’s football evolution. The two had numerous Pac-12 battles when London played collegiately at USC while Phillips was at Utah.

Now, they cross paths daily in the Falcons’ 7-on-7 and team drills at training camp practices.

“He’s built like a bodybuilder that plays cornerback,” London said of the 5-foot-9, 185-pounder. “He’s an exceptional player. We had some battles over at Utah. And then obviously we have battles here. So it’s been good to constantly compete against him. He’s just a great guy.”

Phillips spent much of his time during the “super tough” tricep injury process in the film room.

There, he was picking up the then-first-year defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich’s “identity” and emphasis of “strain and grit.”

Now Phillips aims to be a guiding light for fellow Falcons defensive backs.

“I’ve grown, man,” Phillips said. “Obviously, the biggest thing is just consistency to show some of the younger guys how you approach this thing day in and day out. It’s a game of attrition, which I learned last year, being injured.”

Phillips enters the 2026 season with 63 total tackles, 50 solo, an interception, 10 pass breakups, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery. He’s appeared in 28 games on defense and special teams and started in seven.

“The biggest thing with Clark’s been his mindset,” Hood said. “When I first got here, he came in, and the biggest questions were ‘How do I make place?’ I talked to Clark about holistically where we can take his game and how he can grow. And he’s done the work. You see the growth from ‘How do I make plays? Can I make this interception?’ To OK, let me understand where I need to align, where my eyes need to be, what’s my process to make sure that I’m right on every single snap.”

The Falcons (1-1) take the field against the Miami Dolphins (0-2) at Hard Rock Stadium this Friday, Aug. 28. It is the NFL preseason finale.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. and will be televised on FOX 5 Atlanta and CBS Miami.

Enjoy our content? Make FalconsOnSI a Preferred Source to see more stories from us on Google: https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=si.com

Add us as a preferred source on Google