With the Los Angeles Chargers losing Derwin James for most, if not the entire season, it's Adrian Phillips who will be stepping up and filling his role.

James suffered a stress fracture in his foot last week and Phillips knows that he now has an important role in the defense. Phillips is confident in his ability to step up but he made it clear that he isn't going to be trying to play like James.

“I’m not stepping into this position to be anything that Derwin was,” Phillips said Tuesday via Jeff Miller of the Los Angeles Times. “I’ve played a lot of snaps in my career. I played a whole bunch of snaps last year. We got to the playoffs, and we were able to make a lot of plays.”

Phillips knows when you start to try and replace someone it's when there is extra pressure and things go south. He is just going to focus on playing his game and filling his role on the Chargers.

“So it’s not necessarily thinking of replacing Derwin. It’s, ‘Hey, this is a little bump in the road. We gotta fix it … and keep it moving.’ When you start thinking you’re replacing somebody or you have to live up to what somebody else has done, that’s when all the bad stuff starts to happen.”

Last year Phillips played in 16 games for the Chargers starting seven of them racking up 94 tackles. He also forced a fumble and also picked off a pass. Phillips has a lot of experience, and the team knows he is a guy they can trust.