When Harrison Phillips landed with Buffalo in 2018, having been selected in the third round (No. 96 overall) in the NFL Draft, the Bills were in the midst of a long drought in the AFC East. They had last won the division title in 1995 and Phillips was part of the team that won the division in 2020 and then advanced to the AFC title game, losing to Kansas City.

After the conclusion of the Jets’ 2025 season on Sunday back in Highmark Stadium where it all began for Phillips, the defensive lineman who was acquired by GM Darren Mougey from Minnesota in late August, said he senses some of the same glimmers of hope bubbling up from the Green & White’s just-concluded 3-14 season.

“We won the AFC East for the first time in 26 years, and it was a slow process,” Phillips said of his third season in Buffalo. “And I do see a lot of the character, and I see a lot of the effort, and I see a lot of the same coaching points that they were instilling in us at that point when I was at Buffalo, that AG is bringing to this roster, into this organization. And so, like I said, we just have to improve.”

While the offseason ahead is likely to bring a lot of changes, Phillips seems certain to be back at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center after playing in 16 games and winning the team’s Dennis Byrd Most Inspirational Award. But as an 8-year veteran he knows many of the faces will change after a difficult season.

“Extremely, extremely tough,” he said. “There’s a lot of disappointing things when you look at the results, but I’m an optimist and I’m a growth mindset guy, so I just try to find the things that we’ve done well and the things that we know that we can improve on. I still have belief in this team. We started 0 and 7 but we still had everyone come into the building on Monday, ready to work and ready to to win, and so we just have to build a winning culture. I don’t believe that we’re losers. I believe that we have winners and the results will come.”

Beck Reflects and Looks Ahead
Andrew Beck came to the Jets this season, his seventh in the NFL, largely as a bit player. He played an important role on the Jets’ elite special teams group while also catching a pair of TD passes — the second one coming from QB Brady Cook in Sunday’s season finale at Buffalo.

“You can look at the record, you can look at a bunch of things, and say that the season wasn’t what we wanted it to be, or it didn’t live up the expectations that we had initially and that will be true, obviously,” he said.