‘I’m Coming Guns Blazing’ – Miami Dolphins’ Jaelan Phillips Expects His Best in 2024

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Next weekend, Miami Dolphins EDGE Jaelan Phillips will make his celebrated return to football 289 after tearing his Achilles tendon.

And he intends to end his long hiatus playing like he did before it began — at a high level.

Injury Update for Miami Dolphins OLB Jaelan Phillips

Injured players, particularly those at his position, often don’t regain their form until their second season back from major reconstructive surgery. But Phillips believes he can play up to his standard in 2024.

“I don’t see this as a get-back year,” Phillips told reporters after Dolphins practice here Thursday. “I don’t see this as like dipping my toe in the water. I’m coming guns blazing. I’ll put my best foot forward, and whatever happens, happens.”

Phillips has the perfect combination of genetics and inner drive to do it. He has made a remarkable — and remarkably fast — recovery from an injury that has ended many NFL careers.

Throughout the process, Miami’s medical and coaching staffs have had to keep a close eye on Phillips to ensure he wasn’t doing too much too soon. That oversight will continue when the games begin, even if it’s over his objections.

“We’ll be very smart with Jaelan, just because he’s even back earlier than some people thought — in just my opinion,” Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said this week. “You’ve got to put a governor on him because he wants to go 100 miles an hour, and it’s like, ‘Dude, you just came back from a serious injury faster because you’re a freak healer, but let’s be smart about this.’

“I just think Kyle [Johnston] and his staff do a great job of getting our guys prepared and healthy, so we’ll take the approach – because it is about long term; it’s not just about right now.”

So expect a part-time role for Phillips when the Dolphins open the 2024 season on Sept. 8.

But Phillips said he’s far more concerned about knocking off rust at this point than about whether his body can respond. That question has already been answered.

“The last month and a half, 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 they didn’t really react at all,” Phillips said.

“There’s been a couple of times where I’ll be watching myself, watching whatever drills I’m doing and, you know, 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. So I just feel very grateful and blessed.”

Regarding the Achilles, Phillips added: “It feels rock solid. When I first got hurt, I didn’t really know what to think. I didn’t know what it was going to be like coming back. I heard, you know, a lot of people kind of mentioned to me about confidence things and like having kind of like a mental block almost like coming back and not trusting it. But I haven’t had that issue at all.

“I’ve been fully confident, and I don’t even feel hurt. I feel fine.”