Adrian Phillips has been a member of the New England Patriots for almost three months, but his experience with the team is much different than free agents in the past. A week after Phillips signed with New England, the NFL closed all of their facilities due to concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. That hasn’t taken away from his view of the team or the start of his journey in Foxboro.
In a conversation with Megan O’Brien of Patriots.com, Phillips spoke glowingly about his new team even though he’s yet to personally greet any of the men he’ll be sharing a locker room and meeting rooms with.
“That is a testament to those guys to embrace me the way that they did to just treat me like I have been there for so long and not even meeting me face-to-face,” Phillips said. “It is a huge testament to them and a huge testament to the coaches showing that there are people that just really want to know the best of you and just really want to see the type of person you are and embrace you and bring you into the winning culture. It is real cool to be apart of it.”
Phillips added: “It is a first-class organization. You notice that from afar and you wonder how does that keep happening? So actually being in the mix you see that and being in the meetings with the guys and with the DBs you see why they are always in the position that they are in. It is just great to be apart of.”
As of now, it’s not exactly clear what Phillips’ role will be in New England. During his six seasons with the Chargers, Phillips played everywhere on defense and made the Pro Bowl due to his contributions on special teams.
If he can stay on the field, Phillips will probably have a consistent role on both defense and special teams, allowing him to continue making a name for himself in New England.
