Jordan Phillips picked up right where he left off with the Buffalo Bills.
Phillips returned to Buffalo in free agency this spring. The last time he was on the Bills roster, he led the team with nine sacks.
In his first action as a Bill since then he recorded 1.5 sacks against the defending champion Los Angeles Rams. That helped his team take a 31-10 win.
Some were surprised. Phillips was not.
Upon reflecting on his return, Philips said Buffalo’s coaching staff makes him feel at home. That led to his successes.
“They just let me be me,” Phillips said to Rochester First. “They have a lot of confidence in what I do. They give me a lot of freedom. They give me a lot of control, in a way. That just comes from their confidence, trust in me to do what I do.”
“I planned on doing it and I’m glad it happened,” Phillips added.
Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott has long praised the return of Phillips. The Bills appreciate a guy that leaves and wants to come back.
Especially someone like Phillips.
McDermott acknowledged just what the defensive tackle said, he sees how Buffalo and the player mix very well.
“He just thrives in our environment,” McDermott said via video conference. “It was fun to watch last night. He brings a lot of energy to our team, he brings an edge to our football team as well which is good.”
Phillips’ sacks were just a few of many Buffalo had in Los Angeles. As a team, the Bills had seven total. Von Miller added two of those.
In terms of that full effort? That’s what Phillips expected, too.
“That was game plan. We thought we could expose their O-line like we did,” Phillips said. “We have had a great O-line that we go against every day [in practice] and they got us ready for the challenge.”
Once is good, twice would be great. But how about 17 times?
Phillips is not getting ahead of himself because he knows his team has a long ways to go to get to their ultimate goal.
One win was big, but more victories and pass-rush efforts like Week 1 will be needed again.
A good start nonetheless.
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