Jaelan Phillips doesn’t care that his first sack was of Tom Brady

Jaelan Phillips’ rookie year probably hasn’t gotten off to the start he would’ve liked. His team is currently 1-4 with their lone victory stemming from a forced fumble in the season opener.

Personally, Phillips is adjusting to the NFL at a normal rookie pace. His snap counts were low the first two weeks of the season, playing just 29% of defensive snaps. However, they’ve jumped up over the last three, spiking this past week to 79%.

Phillips also recorded the first solo sack of his career, and it just so happened to be against Tom Brady. When asked about the sack, the rookie said it wasn’t that special.

“It’s funny that you ask that because people keeping asking me what it felt like to sack Tom Brady,” Phillips said during his media availability on Tuesday. “I said it before the game. Your opponents are kind of nameless and faceless, so honestly, to me, it didn’t really feel like anything more than just a sack.”

Phillips recorded his first half-sack during their Week 4 matchup against the Colts but getting his first full-sack against one of the best of all time is a feat. The rookie is continuing to say the right things and is falling in line with what is asked of him.

He even continued speaking about the bigger picture Tuesday.

“Frankly, we’re not getting it done on defense, so getting a sack in the game doesn’t really mean too much in the grand scheme of things.”

Phillips did let himself relish in the idea of sacking Brady a bit, as he mentioned he received the game ball from the equipment staff and that he would add it to his memorabilia collection.

The defense has not been good or even average to start the season, but Phillips has been one of the bright spots both on the field and off of it.