Phillips, playing defensive tackle for this third NFL team since the Buffalo Bills selected him out of Stanford in the third round of the 2018 draft, noticed what he characterized as a “cancerous” mentality that had been festering in the Jets organization.
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While defending now second-year head coach Aaron Glenn on radio row at the Super Bowl on Thursday, Phillips talked about the “same old Jets” mentality that Glenn had to combat.
When asked by Roundtable Sports why Jets fans should believe in Glenn’s vision, Phillips gave a thoughtful answer about a franchise that hasn’t made the playoffs since the 2010 season and has a reputation for making bad decisions.
Phillips emphasized that “culture matters.”
“I think AG inherited a very cancerous and truculent group, from top to bottom,” Phillips told Roundtable Sports. It is not the fault of individual people. I was there for a season, it was a very difficult season and I almost wanted to waver in some of my thoughts, my beliefs and my optimism. That’s why I can’t imagine being there year after year after year and not seeing the results you wanted.
“And it tainted people because, ‘My coach is going to be fired, my teammate is going to be fired. I’m going to be a free agent. I could get fired. I have to play for myself, I have to make sure my tape is hot, no matter what the system is asking me to do or what the scheme is telling me to do.'”
Phillips continued: “And then the young players come and say, ‘Oh, that’s my vet and that’s how they act, so I’ll act like that too.'”
Phillips, who started all 17 games for a Jets defense that produced an NFL-low four steals and gave up the second-most points per game (29.6) this season, characterized that cascade of problems as a “long chain of things” that can’t be fixed overnight, or even in a year.
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“I think it was cool to see the AG mentality of any coach I’ve been with, to deal with what we had to deal with this season, to be as consistent as he was with us through that whole thing,” Phillips said, via Roundtable Sports.
“I think consistency, plus making the jump from Year 1 to Year 2 as a head football coach, more of his people in the building, more of his imprint on the culture, I think we have to win more games.”
Last month, Glenn began revamping his coaching staff, although he drew attention by waiting three weeks to fire offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand. Former Indianapolis Colts and Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich will replace Engstrand as the team’s new OC.
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In total, Glenn left nine assistants this offseason, according to ESPN.
Glenn will have new coordinators on both sides of the ball, and still needs to find a quarterback for the future, but Phillips seemed firm in his confidence in the former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator and standout Jets cornerback.
Phillips told the New York Post that so many losses (the Jets haven’t won more than seven games in a season since the 2015 season) as well as personnel and roster turnover can foster the cancerous mentality he described.
“I always felt like we were the ‘same old Jets.’ That’s the phrase, I think someone said that,” Phillips said, according to the Post. “I think the narrative that if you get into the mindset that it’s the same old Jets, it’s a cancerous thought, a very cancerous idea to be a part of. It’s a cancerous thought.”
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In Phillips’ eyes, the Jets have the agency to stay away from that harmful thinking.