Browns’ Jacob Phillips keeps positive mindset as he seeks fresh start
CLEVELAND — Jacob Phillips’ NFL career has not necessarily gone the way the Browns linebacker would’ve hoped.
Phillips’ 2021 season was sidetracked by a biceps injury that cost him the first 12 games, after having lost six games his rookie year in 2020 between a knee injury and a bout with COVID. This past season was going to be his chance to prove his value, especially when starting middle linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. went down with a season-ending injury in Week 3.
That opportunity lasted just three-plus games before Phillips’ season came to an end with a torn pectoral muscle in a Week 7 loss at the Baltimore Ravens. Instead of a chance to potentially build up some positive momentum for his career, he finds himself in yet another offseason trying to maintain a positive mindset despite more disappointment.
“I think mindset is everything,” Phillips said before Wednesday’s Greater Cleveland Sports Awards. “I feel like being able to keep an even keel head is the reason that we even get to this point of being in the NFL. So I think you take the ups with the downs and never get too high, never get too low and have a core principle and the man that you are and then everything else will roll with it.”
Phillips has been taking a similar approach to his rehabilitation a year ago, especially now that the offseason has arrived. Although many other players dispersed to various parts of the country shortly after the Browns concluded their 7-10 season on Jan. 8, he has remained in Cleveland to continue to work with the team’s training staff.
There’s still a plan to return home to Nashville at some point this offseason for a short period of time. However, although Phillips doesn’t know exactly when he’ll return to on-field activities, he has a plan he’s sticking to with how he’s handling his latest recovery from an injury.
“Yeah, haven’t given me necessarily a timetable, kind of just marks that I should be hitting, and my new mark is that I’ll be able to open run,” Phillips said. “So I’m just cool with that really at this point. But I definitely think my rehab is going well and normally I’m able to heal faster than what they expect, so I’m going good.”
What all of the rehab work with the Browns training staff has done is open the door for Phillips to get an early introduction to the team’s new defensive coordinator. Jim Schwartz was hired last week to replace Joe Woods, who was the only defensive coordinator the 2020 third-round pick out of LSU had played for with the Browns.
Phillips being in the facility working on his recovery plan has given him a chance to cross paths with Schwartz. That’s at least provided the two an opportunity to begin developing a relationship that can eventually translate on the field.
“I actually met him the first day he came in and he’s a super cool dude,” Phillips said. “Super easy to talk to. He’s actually like his home base in Nashville. That’s where I’m from, so we got to speak on that a little bit. But I know he’s excited. He’s around the facility every day that I go. I just see him in the (cafeteria) or walking around. So, yeah, it’s super cool seeing him around and getting to meet him.”
There’s something else to having Schwartz in the building. It may be the opportunity for a fresh start for Phillips.
Obviously, the injuries that have plagued his entire career are something that aren’t coordinator-dependent. However, Phillips hopes that, once he is healthy, he can stay healthy and give a new set of eyes a chance to see what he could potentially do for the Browns defense.
“I definitely think you can look at it like that,” Phillips said. “Obviously getting a new defense in, everybody kind of starting from the ground. We’ve got to learn the playbook. We’ve got to make relationships and earn the trust from a new coach, so it’s definitely a fresh start, and I think it’s good. I think it’s needed and it will work out good.”
Although Phillips is still in the introductory phrase of things with Schwartz, that doesn’t mean he can’t form some opinion about what he’ll bring to the defense. The linebacker acknowledges having some familiarity with some of his defenses with the Tennessee Titans in the early-to-mid 2000s due to having grown up in Nashville, as well as knowing about the Super Bowl championship he was part of with the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2017 season.
Now, it’s just about getting in and getting to work with Schwartz and seeing what he can do to help both a defense and player in need of some fixing.
“Obviously he has a resume and, you know, you see the players that he’s been able to coach over this time and super excited for it,” Phillips said. “Super excited to learn, super excited to be around him and the depth of his knowledge. So just kind of grasping onto that moment and can’t wait until football rolls back around.”
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