Eagles new addition, EDGE Jaelan Phillips, wasted no time impacting a defense that needed him

With persistent pressure and outstanding run defense, new Eagles EDGE Jaelen Phillips' debut couldn't have gone much better.

By Geoff Mosher
PhillyVoice Staff

Tork Mason/IUSA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Jaelan Phillips (50) reacts after the Eagles recover a fumble by Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs on Monday, November 10, 2025, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. The Eagles won the game, 10-7.

He had already played 56 career NFL games before Monday night, but the latest one was more special, more unique, and clearly more emotional.

Jalean Phillips had just played his first game at legendary Lambeu Field and, of course, his first in a uniform that wasn't representing the Miami Dolphins.

That's why the Eagles' newest edge defender said he felt emotional about a football game for the first time since he could remember, and in a different way than he's been emotional about his past games. 

"This is a completely different feeling, different environment. It was a new feeling," Phillips said at the podium minutes after the Eagles outlasted the Green Bay Packers in a 10-7 defensive battle in Week 10. Phillips had made his debut with his team new since being traded for a third-round pick on the NFL trade deadline day.

"Because this is just like symbolic of a lot of change in my life," he added, "and kind of new path, new destiny. For this to be the first game and for it to play out how it did, I just think it's surreal."

It played out that way, with the Eagles and Packers trading big hits, takeaways, run stuffs and quarterback harassment but with the Eagles finishing on top, because of Phillips' immediate impact.

Of the Eagles' three additions on defense between their Oct. 26 win over the Giants and Monday night, Phillips and cornerback Michael Carter II were the only ones to dress, and Phillips was the only one to see significant time on the defense.

But he did more than just suit up. He was arguably the most impactful defensive player on the field in a physical, gritty, frigid war of attrition that had Phillips' fingerprints all over it.

The former Dolphin played the most snaps of any Eagles edge rusher and second-most snaps of anyone in coordinator Vic Fangio's defensive front, playing 78 percent of the defense. 

He finished with six tackles, including one for a loss, to go with two quarterback hits and a fumble recovery. It was clear from the start that Phillips' presence would make a difference for an Eagles pass rush that was sporadic throughout the first half.

"He's a great player, man," edge defender Nolan Smith, who made his return from a pectoral injury that sidelined him since Week 3, told reporters after the game. "His tenacity, his effort man. It was phenomenal. I'm happy to have him on the team, for sure."

Phillips, who played across right tackle, converted the extra emotion into high-powered adrenaline. He was a major piece of a defensive front that held the Packers' run game in check, as Pro Bowl running back Josh Jacobs managed just 3.5 yards per carry, with a long of 11. 

Although Phillips didn't have a sack, his pressure over Packers right tackle Zach Tom in the first quarter on a pivotal 2nd-and-9 forced Packers quarterback Jordan Love to move to his left – but right into an awaiting sack from Jalyx Hunt. Phillips also had the recovery on a Love fumble caused by a blitzing Nakobe Dean's hit right before halftime.

Phillips' 4th-and-1 run stuff on Jacobs late in the fourth led to a four-yard loss and a fumbled possession to help kill off one of Green Bay's last-gasp comeback attempts.

According to Next Gen Stats, Phillips generated seven pressures on 36 pass rushes, a 19.4-percent rate – his most pressures in a game since Week 18 of the 2022 season.

"He got the fumble, he had some pressures, he had a hell of a game," defensive tackle Jalen Carter told reporters in the locker room after. "For him to come over here and have an impact game like that, especially how the game went, low-scoring game, etcetera ... he's a dog, man We've seen it on film when he was in Miami. He's going to keep balling."

And if Phillips, who played a season under Fangio in Miami, keeps playing like this, Fangio will get exactly what he's been seeking – an impactful enough four-man rush to lean heavier on zone coverage than man coverage.

Fangio has blitzed and played man coverage at a much higher rate this season than last year, out of necessity. His four-man rush hadn't gotten the job done enough, forcing him to find other ways to generate pressure, sometimes at the expense of his coverage.

Against the Packers, Fangio blitzed on just 9.5 percent of the snaps, the second-lowest blitz rate among NFL teams in Week 10, per NFL Pro, because the Eagles pressured Love at a 40.5-percent clip, 10th best among NFL teams for the week.

"I still think there's a lot of meat on the bone," Phillips said. "We only had a handful of days in practice to kind of get this game plan right, so I think the longer the time we spend together, the more more time we spend in practice and meetings and everything kind of getting getting closer, getting that rush as cohesive as possible, it's only going to go up from there."

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