Georgia native and starting safety, Jayln Phillips, has grown on and off the field this offseason and has set high expectations for himself and the team after coming off its worst season since 2014.
Speaking with reporters Wednesday, just days out from the Tigers’ season opener against Georgia Tech, Phillips recognized the biggest change he has seen in himself this offseason is his confidence. Which he says can be attributed to really understanding the playbook and learning himself and from the players that came before him.
“Learning from the guys that were here before me, guys like Nolan Turner. You know and really learning the playbook, and as you learn the playbook you gain confidence from that,” Philipps said Wednesday “Just believing in myself has been what really helped me take that stride on the field… learning who I am, my body and just what I can do best.”
Amid all the changes throughout the offseason for Phillips, one of the biggest was losing his best friend on and off the field, Andrew Booth Jr, to the NFL last April. If Phillips can learn anything from Booth heading into the season, it is how to dominate the field and in the secondary.
“He just told me to make it count, make every day count,” Phillips said of Booth, a second-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in the 2022 NFL Draft. “He has definitely been in my ear telling me to do what is best for me and to go out there and dominate, so I can be up there with him one day.”
Even with the loss of a valuable player like Booth, Phillips is confident in the versatility of the defense because of the amount of depth within it.
“The coaching staff does their best to put guys out there that they can trust, so that just tells you that our defense is really deep,” he said. “We can go out there with the 1s or 2s and the standard does not change, so that just tells you that our coaches trust a lot of guys on the defensive side.”
Throughout the offseason, Mike Reed and Mickey Conn focused on making sure each player within the secondary also knew how to play and perform well in multiple positions.
“To learn to play multiple positions was our main key coming into the spring and fall,” Phillips said. “Guys can play nickel, corner, strong or free, so that’s basically the main focus this year is for us to learn both sides”
Looking ahead to Monday night’s game, Phillips is excited to be playing 30 minutes away from his hometown of Lawrenceville, Georgia, and to have his whole family in attendance. He is also looking forward to facing some old buddies but ultimately is focused on the task at hand.
“It’s going to be crazy… I know a couple of guys on their team, so it is definitely going to be fun,” he said. “First game, one of our goals is to win the opener, so it is definitely going to be fun to go out there and compete with the guys”
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