Jacob Phillips (born April 1, 1999) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers (also known as the Fighting Tigers) are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiat ...

(LSU) and was selected by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

in the third round of the

2020 NFL draft The 2020 NFL draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The ...

Early life

Phillips attended

East Nashville Magnet High School East Nashville Magnet High School (formerly East Literature Magnet School and commonly referred to as just East) is a public magnet high school located in Nashville, Tennessee. Students were once enrolled through a lottery process, but the school ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. As a senior in 2016, he was selected Tennessee Mr. Football and played in the

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl (currently branded as the Navy All-American Bowl for sponsorship reasons) is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is p ...

. He was a semifinalist for the 2016 Butkus Award, which is given to the nation's top high school linebacker. A five-star recruit, Phillips was originally committed to play

at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

but later flipped his commitment to

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

(LSU).

College career

As a true freshman at LSU in 2017, Phillips played in 12 games, recording 18 tackles. As a sophomore in 2018, he started 11 of 12 games and finished the season with 87 tackles and a sack. Phillips returned as a starter his junior year in 2019. Following a junior season where he led the team in tackles, Phillips announced that he would forgo his senior year and declared for the

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

Phillips was selected by the

in the third round with the 97th overall pick of the 2020 NFL draft. The Browns previously acquired this selection from the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

by trading

Duke Johnson Randy "Duke" Johnson Jr. (born September 23, 1993) is an American former professional football running back who played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the third round (77th overall) ...

to Houston. Phillips was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

list by the team on December 26, 2020, and activated on December 31. On September 1, 2021, Phillips was placed on injured reserve with a biceps injury. He was activated on December 11. Phillips entered the 2022 season as the backup middle linebacker behind Anthony Walker. He became the starter in Week 4 following an injury to Walker. He started the next four games before being placed on injured reserve on October 26, 2022, after suffering a pectoral injury in Week 7. On August 13, 2023, Phillips was placed on injured reserve.

Houston Texans

On April 23, 2024, Phillips signed a one-year deal with the

for $1.15 million. He was released on August 27.

Indianapolis Colts

On January 7, 2025, Phillips signed a reserve/future contract with the

NFL career statistics

Regular season

References

External links

Indianapolis Colts bioLSU Tigers bio
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Jacob 1999 births Living people Players of American football from Nashville, Tennessee American football linebackers LSU Tigers football players Cleveland Browns players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Indianapolis Colts players