Second ‘Hard Knocks’ episode tracking Dolphins features inside look at Jaelan Phillips’ Achilles injury

Miami Dolphins edge defender Jaelan Phillips’ Achilles injury suffered in Friday’s win over the New York Jets was a focal point of Tuesday night’s second episode of HBO reality series “Hard Knocks” following the team for the remainder of the season.

Phillips knew immediately that he tore his Achilles on his takeoff on a fourth-quarter pass rush at MetLife Stadium.

“I think my (expletive) popped, my Achilles,” the cameras and microphones captured Phillips saying. “It felt like someone (expletive) shot me in my (expletive) Achilles. I thought someone like stepped on me.”

Cameras showed Phillips sobbing upon the realization of what happened as he was carted away.

The team rallied around him with supportive words.

“No one wishes that on anybody, but he’ll be back with a vengeance whenever that is,” coach Mike McDaniel told the team after the game with Phillips then more upbeat in the locker room.

Teammates were seen heartbroken for Phillips, including defensive tackle Zach Sieler and fellow edge rushers Bradley Chubb, Andrew Van Ginkel and Emmanuel Ogbah. Phillips, interviewed in a medical room, said his mother was crying on Dan Marino’s shoulder. Marino also had an Achilles tear in his career.

The episode built up to Phillips’ injury Friday. It chronicled Phillips’ journey to get to this point, as a standout at UCLA that medically retired from football before transferring to the Miami Hurricanes for a standout 2020 college season before getting drafted in the first round of 2021 by the Dolphins.

Before the game, McDaniel was shown telling Phillips, “You’re about to be a household name after today.” Phillips had a strong game with a sack, three tackles for loss and a pass deflection.

The human side of Phillips was further showcased with him sharing pictures of his cat to others in the outside linebackers room.

The in-game highlight from the Dolphins’ trip to MetLife was featured, safety Jevon Holland’s 99-yard pick-six at halftime.

Tuesday’s showing exhibited defensive tackle Christian Wilkins’ personality, joking with his teammates and even comically walking in for his Hard Knocks interview without a shirt before getting dressed in front of the cameras.

Another humorous moment was when it went back to McDaniel getting kicked in the nether-regions by a Raiders player getting tackled out of bounds.

The episode began, like the first one, with McDaniel addressing the team in its auditorium. He noted it’s hard to prepare on a short week for the league’s first Black Friday game. Linebacker Jerome Baker quipped back, “I wish it were harder,” an ode to a team motto of “I wish it were hotter” when practicing in the South Florida heat and humidity, that once turned to “I wish it were colder” when the team visited Buffalo in December last season.

Early in the episode, McDaniel brought it to star cornerback Jalen Ramsey’s attention that he was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week following his performance Nov. 19 against the Raiders.

It also showcased how Phillips, Bradley Chubb, Tua Tagovailoa, Raheem Mostert, Cedrick Wilson Jr. and others were involved in Thanksgiving turkey and meal giveaways.

Tagovailoa, the rest of the quarterbacks and position coach Darrell Bevell had a special moment sharing with each other what they’re thankful for and noting that it’s the best quarterback room they’ve been a part of.

Here’s a recap of last Tuesday’s first episode.