Adrian Phillips was the star of the Patriots’ 27-24 win over the Chargers on Sunday.
The defensive back had two interceptions of Justin Herbert, including one that gave the Patriots the lead for good in the fourth quarter when he returned the pick 26 yards for a touchdown.
While recording two interceptions, including a pick-6, would be great in any game, it was even more special coming against the Chargers, his former team — one that did not re-sign him following the 2019 season.
“I love it out here (in Los Angeles), and every time that we get to play them, you kind of — everybody always wants to kind of stick it to their former team,” Phillips told reporters after the game. “This is a great organization that we played against today, and just to be able to go out there and play against them and end up having the game that I had, it was sweet. I loved it. But — yeah, it was sweet.”
Phillips has quietly put together a solid 1.5 years with the Patriots as he hasn’t received the proper credit. But his teammates are aware of what he’s done and meant to the team, so they were happy to see him have a game like he did on Sunday.
“He has a lot of good memories about being here and being on the Chargers,” Devin McCourty said to reporters. “I think as a player, to come back to a team that, however it ends up working out, they didn’t feel the value was there for you to remain there, I think that’s special. AP works his butt off, and to have the kind of game that he had today was huge. He’s a key part of our defense. I think everyone here saw that last year, the impact that he had, and he’s continuing to do that.”
Matthew Judon added: “Man, I’m telling y’all, I’m so happy for that guy. He works his butt off, and every opportunity that he gets, he excels at whatever role we need him. Like, the dude plays linebacker, safety, dime, he’ll rush the edge for us — anything we ask him to do, he excels at it. And I was just so happy for him to come back, playing his old team, and for him to be able to do that — to put us up like that — that was big for him.”
The Patriots are now 4-4 on the year and will take on the Panthers this week.
