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UCLA Sports

UCLA linebacker Jaelan Phillips retires from football for health reasons

Jaelan Phillips (15) and Nate Meadors (22) close in on Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder last season.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
Los Angeles Times staff writer Ben Bolch
By Ben Bolch
Staff WriterFollow

UCLA sophomore outside linebacker Jalean Phillips, one of the team’s top pass rushers, has retired from football after his season was cut short by a concussion, a school spokesman said Saturday.

Phillips was one of the most coveted recruits in school history out of Redlands East Valley High but played in only 11 games over two seasons — including four games last season — because of injuries.

Phillips was sidelined by an ankle injury and a concussion in 2017 and suffered another concussion in 2018. He also underwent two surgeries in the offseason because of a wrist injury after being hit by a car.

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He finished his career with 41 tackles, 4½ sacks and eight tackles for loss.

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UCLA Sports
Ben Bolch

Ben Bolch has been a Los Angeles Times staff writer since 1999. He is serving his second stint as the UCLA beat writer, which seems fitting since he has covered almost every sports beat except hockey and horse racing. Bolch is also the author of the recently released book “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” He previously covered UCLA basketball from 2010-11 before going on to cover the NBA and the Clippers for five years. He happily traded in gobs of hotel points and airline miles to return to cover UCLA basketball and football in the summer of 2016. Bolch was once selected by NBA TV’s “The Starters” as the “Worst of the Week” after questioning their celebrity journalism-style questions at an NBA All-Star game and considers it one of his finer moments.

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