Harrison Phillips achieved his goal during last season’s trip to London by sacking Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers as a member of the Vikings.
Now, the veteran defensive tackle’s first game in Green and White will come against the former Jets quarterback when they open the 2025 season Sept. 7 against the Steelers at MetLife Stadium.
Phillips, an eight-year NFL veteran who spent his first four seasons in the league in the AFC East with the Bills, practiced with the Jets on Monday for the first time since he was acquired from Minnesota last week with a 2027 seventh-round pick for two sixth-rounders.
“The opportunity I have here, I think all you guys know that the arrow is pointing up here,” the 29-year-old Phillips said at the team’s facility in Florham Park. “I’m really hopeful that I can make sure the arrow continues to point up and I can do whatever I can to play that part.”
By acquiring Phillips and Jowon Briggs (from the Browns) in separate trades last Wednesday, the Jets have shored up a position that already featured one of the best in the game, three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Quinnen Williams.
The team’s porous preseason run defense should be fortified with the additions, especially Phillips, who also served as one of Minnesota’s captains last season.
“[Vikings coach] Kevin O’Connell, when he told me I was being traded, talked up what’s happening here, and gave me a better understanding,” Phillips said. “It’s been a few years since I’ve kept up with AFC East news. … But I just know how much this city wants to win, I’ve known that about Jets fans for a long time, playing against these guys twice a year.
“Man, you can just feel the optimism amongst the players and the staff with the new wave of people coming in here, so I’m just really excited. Initial shock, but once I peeled back the onion, this is going to be a great opportunity … I would say this is a win-now mindset.”
Phillips did not have his most productive defensive season one year ago with 56 combined tackles and two sacks in 17 games, but the Vikings are picking up $3.7 million of the $7.4 million on the final year of his contract.
The upgrades also enabled the Jets to deal veteran defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi back to the Chiefs, where he spent the first seven seasons of his career before signing a one-year deal worth $1.42 million with the Jets in the offseason.
“I’m happy that we got a chance to go and get those guys,” said first-year head coach Aaron Glenn, a former defensive coordinator with the Lions. “The first thing is they fit who we are: tough, physical, aggressive, resilient men that love football.
“Listen, I’ve been playing against Harrison for awhile, him being in Minnesota and me being in Detroit. And I’ve said this before, he was a guy when he became a free agent that we were looking at when I was in Detroit as being one of our D-tackles, and obviously Minnesota paid him. But both of those men, they really fit.”
Phillips mutually has admired Glenn in recent seasons from across the field, saying, “I believe he has the blueprints of how it’s done.”
“I think what’s really important is there’s still a foundation of players already here that this isn’t a rebuild. The foundation is set and it’s what pieces we can add in a short time to go out and try to accomplish something big.”
The 313-pound Briggs spent much of his rookie season on Cleveland’s practice squad, appearing in only six games with 13 combined tackles (one for a loss) and one fumble recovery.
“Nothing but excitement,” said Briggs, a college teammate of Sauce Gardner’s at Cincinnati. “I feel there’s a great defense over here and I plan to add my little bit of spice that I have and try to make a great thing even greater.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
