An Achilles injury that ended Jaelan Phillips' third NFL season prematurely was surgically repaired Wednesday morning, and now the Miami Dolphins' young pass rusher faces at least a nine-month rehabilitation process.
“Surgery was a success!! Day 1 of many," Phillips tweeted out Wednesday morning. "I'm built for this."
Phillips is referring to the nine to 12 months of rehab required to strength his right leg and get the 2021 first-round pick healthy enough to pick up where he left off in 2023, a season where he contributed 43 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 11 quarterback hits, and pulled down his first career interception in the eight games he played.
"It's just disbelief," Phillips said on HBO's In-Season Miami Dolphins' Hard Knocks episode two, which chronicled his injury thoroughly. "I was feeling on top of the world. I was balling out.
"It's crazy too because Mike [McDaniel] came up to me before the game and said something along the lines of, 'This is your opportunity to establish yourself as a star in this league. Prime time, first Black Friday game and everyone in the world is watching. These last couple weeks I've been feeling like I've had the most confidence since I've been in the league."
Phillips' road back
And now Phillips, a former University of Miami standout whose collegiate career at UCLA was derailed by a car accident that cost him a collegiate season, faces yet another arduous road back.
Achilles injuries vary based on the severity of the tear, so it's difficult to put an exact timeline on Phillips' recovery, especially without knowing the specifics on the procedure he had. But the general timeline athletes are given is 9-12 months.
In the most ideal scenario, Phillips, who is one of the Dolphins' most sculpted athletes, possessing less than 10 percent body fat, will be cleared to participate in training camp at some point in August 2024. But whether he'll be ready for the start of the 2024 season in September likely will be determined by his work ethic, how his body heals, and whether he suffers a setback.
"You're either going to be better from it, or you're going to be worse from it, and you got to choose, you got to make that decision early in the rehab process," Dolphins pass rusher Bradley Chubb told his fellow pass rushers at his home this past weekend addressing Phillips' injury on Hard Knocks. "Each day approach it like, 'I'm going to be better from this.' "
Achilles injuries are unpredictable
Cornerback Nik Needham tore his Achilles in mid-October of 2022 and didn’t return to play until an entire year had passed. Needham, who has played sparingly in Miami's last four games, has also admitted he's still working off the rust caused by him missing Miami's offseason program, training camp, and the first few weeks of the season.
Former Dolphins pass rusher Cameron Wake tore his Achilles in late October of the 2015 season and played all 16 games of the 2016 season, contributing 29 tackles, 11.5 sacks and forcing five fumbles, turning in one of his five Pro Bowl seasons in a year the Dolphins finished 10-6 and qualified for the playoffs.
The Dolphins are expected to move Andrew Van Ginkel into Phillips' role playing opposite Bradley Chubb in Miami's base package, and Miami also signed veteran pass rusher Jason Pierre-Paul to beef up the team's depth, and raise the experience level at outside linebacker.
Pierre-Paul, a 14-year NFL veteran who has produced 94.5 career sacks, will likely complete with Emmanuel Ogbah and Cameron Goode for a rotational role as one of Miami's edge defenders in Vic Fangio's zone-based 3-4 scheme.
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