If there has been a bright spot to the Miami Dolphins defense this year or for that matter the Monday game against the Titans, it was Jaelan Phillips. That has changed now in the worst way possible for Mike McDaniel.
Midway through the third quarter, Miami's star defensive end was shown throwing his helmet into the bench as he walked across the sideline. A replay of the injury showed him grabbing his knee after rushing the pocket. It did not appear that he was touched.
Jaelan Phillips is hurt and limping off the field, grabbing at what appears to be his right knee
— Marcel Louis-Jacques (@Marcel_LJ) October 1, 2024
If there is a positive, he didn't leave the side of the field right away and did not enter the blue medical tent after he initially came off the field, but he eventually left for the locker room and was ruled out to return with a knee injury.
Jaelan Phillips suffered a knee injury against the Tennessee Titans
Phillips missed the entire offseason recovering from a torn Achilles on Black Friday at MetLife Stadium in 2023. Without Phillips, the Dolphins' defense wasn't able to get pressure on Mason Rudolph, who is playing in place of a banged-up Will Levis. The Titans were able to gut the Miami defense and take a much bigger lead.
Miami's defense needs help. Already without Bradley Chubb, the Dolphins best pass-rushers are Phillips and Emmanuel Ogbah. Miami needs rookie Chop Robinson to step up with Phillips now out and the next few days will tell us how serious the knee injury is.
With the way things are going for the Dolphins, Miami could end up putting Phillips on IR, which would be horrible news. Hopefully, his injury isn't that serious and he can be back next week against the Patriots.
Miami's defense against the Titans started strong, but by the end of the third quarter the unit was gassed and not playing to their potential. Everything was going south for the Dolphins and Phillips' injury was simply the salt in the open wound.