Jets’ Sauce Gardner is in tears over Harrison Phillips meme

The New York Jets’ most recent acquisition has already sparked some hilarity.

Cornerback Sauce Gardner cried with laughter at the uncanny resemblance of his new teammate to that of a familiar face:

cryin real tears right now💀💀💀😭😭 https://t.co/StuKMiMra0

— SAUCE GARDNER (@iamSauceGardner) August 21, 2025

After the team acquired defensive tackle Harrison Phillips from the Minnesota Vikings, a Jets podcast host located an old video of Phillips entering the stadium and compared him to a familiar Jets face.

“Jets bringing back Joe Douglas to play one tech,” Will Parkinson wrote on X.

Parkinson has a point. The stocky build and facial structure look remarkably similar in that video.

Douglas was the Jets’ general manager from 2019 through the middle of the 2024 season. During his tenure, the Jets posted a 30-64-0 record and never exceeded a 7-10 mark. Owner Woody Johnson fired Douglas after the team started the 2024 season at 3-8, although he had already handcuffed Douglas long before that.

His successor as the full-time Jets general manager, Darren Mougey, inherited a roster devoid of defensive tackle depth. Mougey mostly went to the bargain basement to fill it out, not drafting a single interior defensive lineman or adding a player at the position for more than the minimum cost.

However, in the week before cutdown day, Mougey got busy.

First, he brought in the Cleveland Browns’ 2024 seventh-round pick, Jowon Briggs. He followed that up by acquiring Phillips from the Minnesota Vikings, taking on $3.7 million of Phillips $7.4 million salary.

Although Phillips bears a physical resemblance to Douglas, the Jets hope he will help to fortify their interior run defense far more than Douglas ever did. Phillips was a force at the point of attack for the Vikings, showing that his 42 bench-press reps were not only useful in the weight room.

This meme was Sauce Gardner’s first introduction to his new teammate—but, if the Jets have their way, it will be overtaken by Harrison Phillips’ impact on the field.