Miami Dolphins pass rusher Jaelan Phillips showed off his “first steps” as he recovers from surgery for his ruptured Achilles that he suffered in the 2023 season.
Phillips appears to be moving well in the video, a good sign for the Dolphins and their fans, as they’d love to get Phillips back at some point in the 2024 season.
The former first-round pick from the 2021 NFL Draft had surgery back in November after he suffered the injury in Week 12 against the New York Jets.
At the time, Phillips posted on social media that the surgery was a success, and it appears that his rehab process is also going well.
Surgery was a success!! Day 1 of many 🙏🏾 I’m built for this
— Jaelan Phillips ;🕴🏾® (@JJPhillips15) November 29, 2023
The injury cost Phillips the final six games of the regular season for the Dolphins, and he also missed the team’s playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
After posting 8.5 sacks in 17 games as a rookie back in the 2021 season, Phillps started 15 of the 17 games he played in during the 2022 season, recording seven sacks and a career-high 61 combined tackles. The former University of Miami standout was becoming a key player on the Dolphins defense.
This season, Phillips was limited to just eight games due to injuries, but he made his impact felt in a big way in those matchups. The third-year player had his first career interception and also registered 6.5 sacks.
Had he stayed healthy, Phillips was on pace to smash his current career-high marks in sacks in the 2023 season. Unfortunately, he’ll have to recover from his Achilles injury before he can go chasing that number in the 2024 season.
The Dolphins were hoping that Phillips and Bradley Chubb could form an elite pass-rushing duo to bolster their defense. Instead, both players suffered serious injuries in the 2023 season, as Chubb tore his ACL late in the campaign.
It’s possible both players will be able to go for the 2024 season, but with serious injuries like these, the Dolphins may be cautious when easing them back into action.
For now, Dolphins fans can take a small win in that Phillips appears to be progressing well. Miami certainly needs him if it wants to make a deep playoff run next season.
