MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Jaelan Phillips’ rapid recovery from a torn Achilles is a testament to his freakish healing powers. But did the Miami Dolphins let him rush back too soon?
We won’t know until the season ends, but everything the Dolphins have said and done since last November suggests they have taken — and will continue to take — an abundance of caution with Phillips, who practiced for the first time this summer Monday.
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Beyond putting him through an extensive battery of medical tests and getting regular feedback from the player himself, the Dolphins used GPS tracking technology to ensure Phillips was running like he should.
So no, the concern for the Dolphins’ dynamic pass rusher going forward is less physical and more mental.
Put another way — Will Phillips trust his body to respond as it should? Or will anxiety impact his confidence and his mechanics?
Phillips looked quick and powerful in his limited practice reps Monday just minutes after coming off the physically unable to perform list. It certainly reflects well on both him and the Dolphins’ staff that he was back on a practice field less than nine months after tearing the tendon.
Phillips did no team drills Monday except for those conducted at half-speed — which he didn’t exactly love.
“It was great, but it was a tease,” said Phillips, the former first-round pick who has 22 sacks in 42 career games. “I need more. But I’m patient and I trust the trainers, I trust my coaches. And at the end of the day, I trust myself, too.”
He has time for patience. The regular season is still four weeks off.
And while Phillips certainly wants to be in the Dolphins’ Week 1 lineup, he didn’t commit to it Monday in his first media availability since the winter.
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“We’re just playing it by ear,” Phillips said. “This is the first time I’ve practiced with the boys in eight months, so it is hard to give you an exact timeline or exact date when I am coming back. All I know is that I feel great and I trust my coaching staff, I trust the training staff to get me back into play when they feel like I’m ready.”
By ready, he means mentally as much as physically. Phillips needs to be able to trust his body will respond as it once did. That’s the biggest challenge he faces moving forward.
“I think it’s a process,” Phillips said. “I’ve definitely found that the more that I’ve done, the more confident I’ve gotten.
“If you had asked me two months ago or whatever, like, ‘Oh, you gonna be ready to play?’ I would say, ‘Oh, I don’t know. I haven’t done anything yet.’ But the more that I keep loading through it and doing football movements, I just get more and more confident every day. So yeah, I feel great.”
Phillips sought advice this offseason from big NFL names who have had Achilles injuries, including Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins, and Cam Akers. He acknowledged Monday that his explosiveness might not fully return until next season.
But he should take comfort knowing that the Dolphins were so optimistic about his future that they picked up his rookie contract’s fifth-year, $13.3 million option back in April — when his return to the practice field was still months off.
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“it means the world, obviously,” Phillips said. “Contracts and things of that nature aren’t obviously my priority. I wanna be here as long as they’ll keep me. I love being a Dolphin. And really, with me, I’m just focused on coming back, being healthy and staying healthy, and doing everything I can for this organization, both on the field and off the field.”
“So, it meant the world to me that they had the faith in me,” he added. “And, you know, obviously it shows how they feel about me as a person and as a player. So very appreciative of that, for sure.”