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26 IllustrateD volume 25, issue 1 f You've got to be creative." But who? The latest on the first team is Phillips, a senior who played the position a bit last season after transitioning over from defen- sive end. He took over there as the No. 1 midway through the spring and hasn't left, getting first-team repetitions all through training camp, aside from the day-and-a-half he sat with a tra- pezius injury. From an appear- ance point of view, Phillips is probably ideally suited, being 6-foot-4, 265 pounds. And even at that defensive line-like size, he's athletic, too, having been a defensive back and punt return- er at Houston County High School in Georgia. Yet, Phillips' career production has been marginal, including a 2013 cam- paign in which he had only nine tack- les with a couple sacks. But if Phillips plays the position right, his production should jump. "(Hudson) told me the role is to pretty much make the plays," Phillips said. "You have to be around the ball every single play. Any time you see the ball, you should be around it, no matter if it's 20 yards down the field or five yards down the field, you have to be around it; you're the guy who has to be in on every single one." That sounds easy enough. But in ex- ecution, it might be a bit more compli- cated. The responsibilities of the rush end vary more than most defensive positions, certainly more than corner- back or nose tackle, for instance, whose goals are pretty easily stated. First priority is positioning (i.e. hand down or standing up), which is large- ly determined pre-snap. The defensive call, which Hudson decides based on offensive personnel, down and dis- PhilliPs looks to Break out Jalani Phillips admits he wasn't having a very good time a year ago. Purdue's losses mounted, and he was struggling to find his niche, playing some at defensive end but occasionally at Jack linebacker, too. The position seemed to matter little, as he compiled only nine tackles, in- cluding a couple sacks. "I know I wasn't happy with what happened last year," Phillips said. "And we just noticed a change all to- gether, my mindset had to change. ... More positive. I'm thinking about what I need to do, more about foot- ball really." It helps to have a focus. Phillips, a senior, is Purdue's No. 1 rush end — the same position, with a new name, as the Jack — and is thinking he can turn in a good season in his final attempt. Being 6-foot-4, 265 pounds, Phillips fits the physical mold for what Purdue wants at the position. "To me, he's the type of guy you want, his size, speed and strength," de- fensive coordinator Greg Hudson said. "He's got to develop a little more, from having his hand down most of the time. But he did a good job in the spring. There's times he's down, times he's up, times he's to the field, times he's to the boundary. And we could stack him over the ball if we wanted to, so there's a lot of places he could go. "He's got a prototype body." But more than body, Phillips has changed his mental approach. The last year had him down and distant; Phillips didn't look like he was having fun on the field, Hudson said, and part of his offseason involved changing that outlook. The coaches noticed. "He's a completely different guy, just in the way he approaches meet- ings, his whole attitude," Coach Darrell Hazell said. "He's studying the game. It's fun to be around when he's like that." Phillips is having fun, partially due to the freedom he's afforded at rush end. "It's constantly running and using my quickness to go make a play," he said. "It allows me to use my athleticism a lot. "It's a big opportunity. It's my last time, my senior year, last time to represent Purdue and give it my all, so that's what I'm going to try to do." — Kyle Charters Tom Campbell Phillips could break out this season, if he's as active as Purdue needs him to be. But in his first three seasons, the Georgia native has only four sacks among his 34 tackles.