Miami Dolphins pass rusher Jaelan Phillips announced that the knee injury he got during the game against the Tennessee Titans on Monday night will need season-ending surgery.
Phillips got hurt in the first half of the Dolphins’ 31-12 loss when he collided with teammate Jordan Poyer. He played through the injury, which turned out to be a partial tear in his right ACL. He received a brace at halftime.
“The mission is still the mission,” Phillips wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday. “I have unfinished business to take care of and I will come out of this trial victorious.”
In the third quarter, Phillips went down again and slammed his fist on the ground in frustration. After trainers helped him get up, he walked to the sideline on his own and threw his helmet down in anger. He did not return to the game after that.
Coach Mike McDaniel described it as a “freak” contact injury. It occurred when Titans running back Tony Pollard carried the ball. Poyer dove to tackle Pollard and his helmet hit Phillips’ knee, causing Phillips to fall immediately while holding his knee.
Poyer was also hurt on the same play.
Phillips had been recovering from a season-ending Achilles tendon tear in 2023 on that same right leg, which kept him out for the last seven games of last season. McDaniel stated that the knee injury was not related to the previous Achilles injury.
“It’s not exciting at all, especially when you watch someone work so hard to earn every rep,” McDaniel said.
In the four games he played this season, Phillips had six tackles, one tackle for loss, one sack, and one pass breakup.
