Cavs’ Phillips set to break out

John Phillips reached down and pulled on the orange and blue silicone bracelet on his wrist and offered a chuckle.
The gel bracelet — and the two words on it — serves as a constant reminder of the patience Virginia’s tight end displayed during the first three years of his career.
It reads: Saturday Solider.
“Football is all about Saturday,” Phillips said. “Anything can happen between the white lines.”
The bracelet was given as a gift to every player on the team by former tight end Tom Santi.
For three years, Phillips lived in the shadows of Santi and fellow tight end Jon Stupar. In fact, Phillips entered 2007 with catches in just three games and against just two opponents (Duke and Miami).
Three games into last season’s schedule, the spotty trend continued as Phillips went without a reception, still biding his time as the offense’s third tight end. Slowly, Phillips made his mark, hauling in 17 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns.
Santi (Indianapolis Colts) and Stupar (New England Patriots) flew the coop for the world of professional football, leaving Phillips at the top of the pecking order at tight end as Saturday’s season opener against No. 3 Southern California inches closer.
Phillips, a 6-foot-6 target, is not attempting to make up for lost time.
“You can’t look at it that way,” Phillips said.
Instead, he looks at his time with Santi and Stupar as a blessing.
“It was an honor to play alongside those two guys. They taught me a lot about the game, how you play it and how important the position can be in our offense.”
Last year, Santi and Stupar combined for 76 receptions, five touchdowns and almost 800 yards receiving.
With three new faces on the Cavaliers’ offensive line, a common belief was that the coaching staff would need Phillips and perhaps sophomore tight end Joe Torchia to remain home as a blocker against blitz-happy defenses.
Think again.
“I haven’t seen anybody catch the ball as well as John does when it is near him,” said Virginia offensive coordinator Mike Groh. “We tend to get him out a lot. He is too big of a threat.”
Phillips has the skills, Groh said, to become the sixth tight end from Virginia to be selected in the NFL Draft since 2001. The third-year coordinator raved about how Phillips presents mismatches that even former All-American Heath Miller was unable to enjoy during his illustrious 144-catch career as a Cavalier.
“[Phillips] can really go up and get it at a different level than Heath,” Groh said. “John is just longer than Heath was, if that makes sense to you guys.
“I am not saying he’s better than Heath Miller, all I am saying is that he is just longer — longer arms and taller body and you can throw it up higher to him, places where defenders have a hard time covering.”
Phillips, a senior, said professional football can wait. He still wants to refine his game at the college level.
“Everybody can improve every day,” he said. “The main thing is to go out and find one thing that you want to improve on that day and by the end of the day, hopefully, you can be better than when you started.
“I just try to work hard every day. I work as hard as I can and listen to the coaching staff. The coaching staff guides you and molds you the way that you should be molded.”