Miami Dolphins OLB Jaelan Phillips Describes Self-Confidence Issues on Social Media

Last season, Jaelan Phillips opened up about the mental challenges he faces as a star linebacker for the Miami Dolphins, talking about confidence and self-belief.

In an Instagram Story Tuesday afternoon, Phillips addressed the topic again with a message that offered a window into his psyche.

“I have to work very hard not to attach my worth and self-confidence to how I perform on the field,” Phillips wrote. “When I have a mediocre or even below-average performance, I feel worthless, like I’ve let my team and fans down, and often my confidence can falter. The self-loathing and doubt can be so heavy in those moments that I sometimes wonder if I’ll ever get through it.”

“It takes a concerted effort to change my mindset in these moments and see failure/adversity as a learning experience rather than the end of the world. I pick myself up and get back to routine and discipline, which are the only things that matter. It’s the process that matters, not the results. It’s so much easier to spiral and get down on yourself, but nothing good ever comes easy. Keep chopping wood, things will get better, you can do it…believe in yourself! And trust God.”

In his fourth year with the Dolphins after arriving as the 18th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft out of the University of Miami, Phillips has found success on and off the field in recent years.

Off the field, he was named the Dolphins’ nominee for the 2022 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, was the team’s 2021 Nat Moore Community Service Award recipient, became a member of the Dolphins Cancer Challenge executive board, and This spring he received his baccalaureate.

On the field, Phillips has been a consistent contributor on defense, with 23 sacks in 43 career games.

But, as Phillips explained last November, confidence is an issue, which is why he met with sports psychologists.

“I’ve met with different confidence coaches,” he said. “I’ve met with sports psychologists. I’ve done meditation, I’ve done different types of things. Different things work for different people. I think for me, I’m still growing and learning. At the end of the day, it’s just about myself and my confidence and how I believe in myself. I think everyone’s told me my whole life that I’m my biggest enemy. Like I said, it’s about being focused and being intentional. When I meet with these confidence coaches and things like that, I think the most important part, because I’ve heard a lot of what they’ve said, is taking that 30-minute or hour-long session to really dive in and be present in the moment. For me, like I said, it’s something that I’m continually working on.” But I feel really happy where I am right now.”

Phillips didn’t record a stat in 23 defensive snaps in Thursday night’s 31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills, but that was just his second game back from an Achilles injury suffered on Black Friday last year. And in his first game, a 20-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, he had a sack on the final defensive snap of the day to give Miami the ball back to the offense for its game-winning drive.