Shaun Phillips Talks Rivalry With Philip Rivers Before Playoff Meeting

Philip Rivers (17) is sacked by Denver Broncos defensive end Shaun Phillips (90) during the second half at Qualcomm Stadium. (Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports)

Broncos fans really love to hate Philip Rivers. We see him jawing on the field with the best of them, and he’s a division rival, so it’s easy to despise the guy.

Former teammate and current Broncos sack leader Shaun Phillips talked about his old quarterback after Friday’s practice.

“What is funny is that he gets a bad rep—everyone thinks he’s like talking trash, saying cuss-words and stuff like that,” Phillips said. “The guy doesn’t even curse. But he is competitive. We go back from the Senior Bowl, we used to jaw at each other, to me beating him at dominoes. He’s just a competitor and he hates to lose.”

Phillips and Rivers met for the first time at the Senior Bowl. Phillips chased him out of bounds, and told him, “You better run out.” Rivers chirped back.

“Then we ended up getting drafted to the same team,” Phillips said. “That is why it was fun and that is something we always joke about to this day.”

So there’s a little fun history lesson to go along with this weekend’s match up.

It’s a rubber match between the Broncos and the Chargers, but it’s also a rubber match between Phillips and Rivers at this point. May the best man win.

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