Where Phillips Stands Heading Into Regular Season

The Miami Dolphins edge defender has remarkably recovered from his Achilles injury.

Miami Dolphins linebacker Jaelan Phillips (15) looks on during training camp at Baptist Health Training Complex. / Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

It's been 17 days since Jaelan Phillips returned to practice, and the Miami Dolphins edge defender sounded Thursday like he's been amazed at how well things have gone since he's been back.

The 2021 first-round pick, as all Dolphins fans know, is coming off an Achilles injury sustained on Black Friday, and Phillips suggested it's basically a non-issue now.

"Yeah, I'm rolling," Phillips said after practice Thursday. "I mean, it's really been kind of like a steady, last about a month and a half, like every time I would just start to add load and do new things, I would just kind of surprise myself with how my Achilles didn't get sore at all, and it didn't really react at all.

"So there's been a couple times where I'll be watching myself, watching whatever drills I'm doing and I'll see myself in my stance and really pushing off of it and there's no rebound, there's no weakness, it's just explosive, it's feeling great."

Phillips didn't play in any preseason games, which had to be expected given the nature of his injury and importance to the team.

He also didn't practice every day, which also made sense because the goal was to make sure he'd get as much preparation as possible for the start of the regular while, most importantly, making sure there were no setbacks.

Mission accomplished all the way across.

"I felt great," he said. " It's been amazing. I've been eager to get back into just getting used to my hands, getting used to my eyes and getting really used to the defense. I've been doing walk-throughs with my coach this whole entire time, whole entire season, offseason, but doing it live is different. So it's just really nice to be able to actually do it live and learn the defense."

Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver recently said the coaches would have to see how Phillips' body responds to determine how many snaps he'll play early in the season, and Phillips deferred to his coaches when asked the same question Thursday.

Phillips did make it clear he wanted to play as much as possible.

"I'm here to do whatever they need me to do," he said. "Obviously I'm gonna be pushing to play as much as I can, but I've got to be smart. At the end of the day it's a long season and so we'll see how it goes."

JAELAN PHILLIPS' GOALS AND EXPECTATIONS

During his injury last season, Phillips played perhaps the best football of his career.

Before he went down early in the fourth quarter, Phillips had a sack in that 34-13 victory against the New York Jets to extend his sack streak to five consecutive games.

Phillips finished the season with 6.5 sacks in eight games, projected to 13 over a 17-game season.

When it comes to a goal for 2024, Phillips doesn't want to go there.

"I mean, I never really have sack goals when it comes to that," he said. "I just want to be disruptive and be productive. I know that I'm a 10-plus-sack guy. I know that I can go out there and disrupt the quarterback, stop the run, do everything I need to do for this team, so the numbers will fall where they fall, but I'm gonna go out there and try my best."

Phillips will be at his best from the very start of the 2024 season, which was the best possible outcome all along.

The last comment he made during his media session Thursday said it all.

"I feel great."