For Phillips, the transition is more complicated, because he has gone from playing mostly defensive end at the University of Miami to outside linebacker with the Dolphins.
“I played linebacker in high school and my second year at UCLA I played outside linebacker,” he reminded reporters Thursday. “It’s been an adjustment getting used to it again. A lot of terminology is the same, a lot of the principles are the same. It’s definitely cool.”
The move to linebacker involves dropping into pass coverage more than he did at UM.
“I love moving around; I love running,” he said. “I’m pretty good at being fluid and moving my hips around. It’s something I’m working on. It’s not new to me, but something I haven’t done in a long time. It’s exciting.”
“I can’t help but be happy sitting in the meeting room and seeing Hard Rock in the background,” he said. “It literally blows my mind to this day…
“I got a house, I got a cat, I got my girlfriend. I spend a lot more time up north [Hollywood, where he now lives]. I like it a lot up here. It’s a lot more open, easier to get around.”
Teammates ask him for restaurant ideas: “They call me Mr. 305.” (Phillips and veteran receiver Allen Hurns are the only former Hurricanes on the Dolphins’ roster.)
ESPN’s Louis Riddick called Phillips “the most polished pass rusher in this draft. He can beat you with power, beat you with speed, beat you off the edge.”
So is he trying to learn new moves? “You’re always trying to perfect what you have in the ****nal but also trying to learn new things,” said Phillips, who describes himself as a film “fanatic” and has studied tape of former Giants great Lawrence Taylor.
He said he keeps in touch with Canes players Nesta Silvera and Bubba Bolden: “They are always texting me, ‘What is it like? How is it different?’ I tell them they have to wait until they get here.”
Phillips, incidentally, said he and Waddle will have a wager on the result of the UM-Alabama game on Sept. 4 in Atlanta.
