CHARLOTTE — Jaelan Phillips has always been able to create pressure.
Two games into the season, he's also on the kind of pace that validates that.
Sacks might not be the perfect measure of a pass-rusher, but you'd definitely rather have them than not. And after two games, the Panthers outside linebacker has a pair of sacks.
"Three if you count Buffalo," he said with a laugh, of his attempt to drag down Josh Allen in the preseason that ended with a hug.
Of course, that doesn't count, but as Phillips has progressed into his age 27 season, he's learned to value the opportunities, because he knows how much value others put on the counting stats.
"Really taking advantage of my opps when they come to me," he said of this year's sacks. "I'm not going to get into the specifics of what I've been crafting because I don't want the other guys to see it, but I think, I've been in the right place at the right time and just take advantage of those opps. Truthfully, as a pass rusher it's kind of hard because you can do everything right and it's just, it doesn't fall your way. Something happens, play goes the other way, quarterback gets the ball out. So when the opportunities do come and you have a layup in front of you or win and you finally have a quarterback in front of you, you've got to get him to the ground.
"In the past I've missed a lot of opportunities, missed a lot of sacks, and so I'm on my revenge tour."
Phillips has always been a guy to generate pressure, but he hasn't put up the kind of big sack numbers people expect. Part of that is health, as he's only played 17 games three times in six seasons, and he's never had more than 8.5 sacks in a year.
So this offseason, he's thought about those near misses, internalized them. And he's also visualizing them.
"I've just missed so many opportunities in the past; I just, I'm tired of doing it," Phillips said. "I'm tired of being disappointed after games. Like, man, I could have done this or I could have done that. I'm six years into my career, and I feel like I haven't reached my true potential.
"And so I think that's really my goal is to just be the elite player that I know I can be, and a lot of that comes with making those plays that come to me. So yeah, revenge tour, 2026."
And those who have seen it up close can tell the difference.
"You can see right off the bat — I mean, two games, two sacks, that's huge," linebacker Devin Lloyd said. "Just his ability to impact the quarterback as far as getting him on the ground, but then just pressures in general, like the biggest thing is affecting the quarterback in the pocket even if it's forcing him to get off his second read because he feels pressure getting him to scramble, getting him to roll out, obviously always get him on the ground, but the pressure is just as important.
"I have all the confidence in the world in him just as a player, so his ability to get home. He's got a good arsenal of moves. He's everything you'd want in a pass rusher."
Lloyd said as he looks at the league's sack leaders at the moment (Phillips is tied for ninth), he sees guys he clearly prefers Phillips to. But again, sacks can be situational, and can vary based on who you're playing with or against.
"But he's on track for 17, right?" Lloyd said, because he's good at math. "That's the pace you want to be on."
Phillips, perhaps because of his background, hesitates to put too much into the sack numbers, because he knows how ephemeral they can be. But his pressure rates (especially in Philadelphia, which has a similar scheme based on the Vic Fangio-Ejiro Evero lineage) were such that the Panthers made a strong push to sign him on the first day of free agency.
"I've always been a disruptive player, but I haven't really necessarily been a productive player, I guess it's a good way to put it," Phillips said. "Disruptive in the sense that I'm getting the quarterback out the spot or I'm getting a lot of pressures or almost making a big TFL like to where I'm like assisting a teammate or whatever the case is. And it's been good for my team. I've played solid ball, but there's been a lot of missed opportunities in my career and where that production comes in.
"So, like I said, sacks don't mean everything, but they're definitely important. Sacks change games, so the difference between getting a pressure on second down where the quarterback has to rush his throw and it's an incomplete pass, now it's third-and-10 where a sack's third-and-16. It completely changes the dynamic. So it's important to get negative plays."
When he talks about visualizing those missed opportunities that torment him, he admits it's not a process for the weak.
"Yeah, I mean it's not a fun place to be," he said. "I mean, you try hard not to regret it because ultimately you can't do anything about it. You have to have short-term memory, but I mean it's tough.
"Like even mid-game when you miss a layup, when you miss a sack, it's tough. You have to just get it out of your head and move forward. So I would definitely prefer to make the sacks. It makes me feel better about myself. I feel like my visualization, I've never had a problem getting to that play, but in my head when I'm thinking about the play the night before or whatever, it's almost like I worry about not making the play instead of like being confident that I'm going to make the play.
"So I'll run it through my head and I'll be like boom, I beat the guy and I get there to the quarterback. And in my head I visualize him juking me out or me missing a tackle because this happened so many times in the past that I kind of would psych myself out. And nowadays my visualization techniques are so much better to where I'm really like envisioning myself making the play and I'm confident that I'm going to make the play and then it just happens."
And with results the last two weeks, he has positive feedback to plug into that internal loop.
He can see the sacks now. They're on the stat sheet.
Check out the best shots of Thursday's practice as the Panthers' prepare for their Week 3 matchup against the Cleveland Browns.
Tackle Stone Forsythe is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Defensive tackle Parker Petersen is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Defensive tackle Anthony Goodlow is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Wide reciever Ihmir Smith-Marsette is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Wide receiver John Metchie III is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan #4 is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Cornerback Mike Jackson is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Wide receiver David Moore is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Defensive tackle Derrick Brown is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Outside linebacker Thomas Incoom is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Defensive tackle Derrick Brown is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Quarterback Haynes King is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Quarterback Kenny Pickett and running back Anthony Tyus III are seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Running back AJ Dillon #28 is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Safety Tre'von Moehrig is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Head coach Dave Canales is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Cornerback Jaycee Horn and cornerback Will Lee III are seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Defensive tackle Parker Petersen is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Quarterback Haynes King is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Wide receiver David Moore is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Cornerback Will Lee III #24 is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Tackle Stone Forsythe is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Quarterback Haynes King is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Safety Isaiah Simmons is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Tackle Albert Reese IV is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Quarterback Haynes King and Will Harriger are seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Quarterback Bryce Young is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Tight end Mitchell Evans is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Outside linebacker Patrick Jones II is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Cornerback Zion Childress, safety Zakee Wheatley and Wide receiver David Moore are seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Offensive coordinator Brad Idzik and running back Chuba Hubbard are seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Kicker Ryan Fitzgerald is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Quarterback Bryce Young is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan #4 is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan #4 is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Defensive tackle Derrick Brown is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Running back Anthony Tyus III #34 is seen during Carolina Panthers practice on Thursday, Sep. 24, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
