Jaelan Phillips and OLB group bringing juice at Panthers minicamp

Jun 09, 2026 at 05:17 PM

Kassidy Hill

Jaelan Phillips and Trevis Gipson are seen during Carolina Panthers Mandatory Mini Camp on Tuesday, Jun 9, 2026 at Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.

CHARLOTTE— Bryce Young perked up at the subject and pointed towards Jaelan Phillips in the back of the press conference room.

"Oh, I'm glad Jaelan is back there, too," he quipped, throwing his voice that way.

He wanted the Panthers' defender to hear his answer.

"I think it's the beauty of defense, especially in practice," he smiled, gearing up for the punch line. "You have to be a little delusional. Like that's just your natural state."

Towards the end of the Panthers' team period on Tuesday, the first day of mandatory minicamp, Young had made his way towards the defensive sideline after a play, responding—what he thought was in kind—to the defense's reaction after a play.

"He came over there chirping because—I don't even know why," shrugged Phillips when it was his turn to respond. "I mean, it was like a calm chirping. You know him, he's a chill dude, but he was talking."

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But chirping nonetheless, letting the defense know he didn't think they had a right to celebrate after a short completion. The offense completed a short out-route, gaining around 5 yards before being quickly stopped by the defense. The former was proud of their first down, the latter proud of the quick stop.

The only thing they really agreed on was that both had the right to celebrate…or maybe that the other shouldn't be celebrating. Who's to say? A lot was lost in translation.

"Everyone's cheering and acting like it would have been a big tackle and big hit, and it's great that they have to bring the juice a little bit, but also we're very happy as well. It's rare the offense and defense are (both) very happy after a certain play," said Young.

"So you'll sometimes have to give them a little reality check, like, 'That play where you were over there hyping people up, yeah.' It was cute, though," he continued, with a bit of a snarky tone relaying what he really thought of it. "I love the energy. I love to see it."

Pass rushers are intrinsically designed and motivated to annoy quarterbacks, getting in their faces to cause massive confusion and hoping to fluster them into making a mistake. So the Panthers' outside linebacker group, including Phillips, Nic Scourton, and Patrick Jones II, reacted in kind, immediately surrounding Young, yelling and celebrating their defensive stop up close and personal with the quarterback, who just laughed and walked away.

Well, he attempted to walk away, but there was a horde of pass rushers surrounding him.

"We're just energetic, excited, yelling," answered Phillips. "It's just fun. It just shows that the onus is on us, someone's got to bring the juice every day, and I think it's contagious."

The juice has spread quickly.

Jaelan Phillips is seen during Carolina Panthers Mandatory Mini Camp on Tuesday, Jun 9, 2026 at Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.

The outside linebacker unit, always the first to dance to whatever song is playing, found only one way to move from drill to drill on Tuesday: sprinting at full speed and screaming like banshees. Which is also how they completed each drill, hyped each other in between, and reacted to any and all plays during team drills, even when Bryce Young wasn't goading them.

"Nic, me, Pat, anybody, that's what it's all about," preached Phillips. "It's infectious. If there's low energy, if somebody's yelling, whether that's real juice, fake juice, it doesn't really matter; it's all the same thing, you interpret it as the same.

"So what can start as a joke or whatever the case is can get everybody to actually be fired up. So that's what we do."

Nic Scourton and Bobby Brown III are seen during Carolina Panthers Mandatory Mini Camp on Tuesday, Jun 9, 2026 at Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.

It's the attitude that the Panthers hoped to add when signing Phillips. His size, at 6-5 and 266 pounds, coupled with his fluidity and speed off the block, makes him an ideal pass rusher. What he's added to the group, though, has helped the entire unit come alive. It's the kind of difference that creates a spark in June, which grows to a flame by September.

"That whole group really is exciting to watch. You talk about Nic, Princely, Pat Jones, all along down the line, it's a really hardworking group," bragged Canales.

Cam Jackson, Princely Umanmielen, Patrick Jones II, Bobby Brown III, Trevis Gipson and Derrick Brown are seen during Carolina Panthers Mandatory Mini Camp on Tuesday, Jun 9, 2026 at Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.

"AC Carter has done a fantastic job since he's been here of just pushing those guys to work and work on their tools and the fine movements of the position and not just being a brute out there, although it does take that too. He really pushes them to be a student of the game, be a student of your pass rush tools, a student of your hand placement in the run game, and I'm really pleased with that group and the way that they're trending.

"They also just hold each other accountable. When you talk about strain, you talk about finish, the outside linebacker room really stands out on our team, because that's how they play and that's what they believe in."

And that strain and finish is important in every second of practice, whether it's the moments in between drills, celebrating big plays, or letting the quarterback know exactly where they are at all times.

"That's kind of how I try to model my game and bring my guys along with me," promised Phillips. "Fake juice, real juice, it doesn't matter, it's all the same thing, so we're going to bring the energy."

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Maz Mwansa and Maema Njongmeta are seen during Carolina Panthers Mandatory Mini Camp on Tuesday, Jun 9, 2026 at Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.