THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Wade Phillips, entering his 26th season as an NFL defensive coordinator, just kept rattling off the names. Reggie White, Bruce Smith, Elvin Bethea, Curley Culp, Rickey Jackson, Jerome Brown, Clyde Simmons, Bruce Smith, J.J. Watt. They're all defensive linemen coached by Phillips who are either in the Hall of Fame, should be in the Hall of Fame or will be in the Hall Fame.

But Phillips wasn't bragging.

Quite the contrary.

"They’re talented," Phillips said. "They do what they do really well. You’ve got to let them do it and you’ve got to put them in a position to be able to utilize their talent is all you have to do. That’s not real hard.”

Phillips was responding to a question about what his scheme can do for Los Angeles Rams all-world defensive tackle Aaron Donald, whose holdout continues. His immediate response was, "I don't know if I can do anything." But Phillips is being a little too humble. He has been coaching NFL defensive linemen since the mid-1970s. Then he became a defensive coordinator, and basically every defense he took over immediately improved.

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Then there's this: The two contracts that serve as the most popular comps for Donald's extension took place under Phillips' watch.

Watt spent his first three years under Phillips from 2011 to 2013, compiling 36 1/2 sacks and 74 tackles for loss while being named first-team All-Pro on two occasions. Shortly after that stretch, Watt signed a six-year, $100 million extension with the Texans that guaranteed him nearly $52 million. To this day, he remains the only one among the five highest-paid defensive players to sign his deal after only three NFL seasons, as Donald's CAA representatives are attempting to do.

Then there's Von Miller, the game's highest-paid defensive player, with a six-year, $114.1 million contract that guarantees him $70 million. Miller signed that deal after his first of two years under Phillips, a two-year stretch that saw Miller register 24 1/2 sacks and force seven fumbles.

"They’re really good players," Phillips said. "I think you’d have to mess it up as a coach for those guys not to play well. If a great player like that can't play in your scheme, then you’ve got the wrong scheme. So I don’t worry about those kind of players. Now, I still think you have to coach them. I still think they have to work to be better, whoever it is. And those guys that you mentioned did that. They kept working at what they did. Even though they were really talented, they kept working at what they did.

"The great one have that too. They have heart, too. The intangibles that people talk about, one of them is that they have a tremendous will to be the best. You get around guys like that, they’re going to do well unless you mess them up.”

Donald is one of those guys. He has made the Pro Bowl after each of his three NFL seasons and has been named first-team All-Pro after each of his last two. His 28 sacks from 2014 to 2016 are four more than any defensive tackle. Last year, he led the NFL in quarterback hits (31) and was tied for the NFL lead in tackles for loss (17). Heading into this year, Pro Football Focus considers him the game's best player, regardless of position.

But he isn't expected to play in Week 1, and there's no telling if he will play in Week 2, Week 3 or Week 4.

Donald isn't here yet, and the Rams have no idea when he will show up.

"It’s disappointing," Phillips said. "It’s disappointing that he’s not here, for whatever the reasons are. But I’ve been through it before, too. You’ve got to play with the guys you have. We believe that we can play well, and that’s what we’re going to try to do."