Tyreek Hill – October 3, 2022
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Monday, October 3, 2022
WR Tyreek Hill
(Have you had a chance to talk to QB Tua Tagovailoa in the last couple of days? Just your read on how he’s doing.) – “Yeah, Tua has been in. Tua’s fine. I’ve had a chance to talk to him on our off days. There’s really nothing to talk about further. Tua is fine. He’s in good hands.”
(Did you get a chance to talk to that Bengals coach that talked to you on Thursday night?) – “Nah, I have no comments on that. I really don’t want to jump into anything crazy. The only thing I know is I’m going to take care of business next time, whenever I face him or whoever. The Cheetah doesn’t want no smoke. All I ask for is when players are playing and talking trash, that’s all fun and games. It makes the game fun. A lot of people think that I’ve got smoke with Eli Apple but it’s all love, man. I’m not a rapper. I don’t have beef with anyone. But I feel like when a coach comes at me in a certain way and I feel like it’s something deeper then obviously I want smoke. I’m just focused on the next game right now.”
(Can you talk about the comfort level you have with a guy like QB Teddy Bridgewater coming in, who is a veteran in this league and kind of learning the offense like you are?) – “The offense is in great hands with Teddy. Obviously it’s going to be a different change of pace because every quarterback has a different playing style. But for me, I’m just going to go out there and do what I’ve been doing and on every team I’ve been on, which is playing hard, giving 110 (percent) effort and doing what I’ve got to do to help this team win games.”
(What have you though about the offense through four games? Obviously you have been a huge part of it. What have you liked and what would you like to see improve?) – “I think so far – this is a new offense and this is a new scheme for everybody. So far, I think there are improvements every game for everyone. Moving forward, I just want us to keep the mindset of just wanting to get better. I feel like if we begin to get comfortable with who we are as an offense, then that’s when bad things begin to happen and teams begin to figure us out. If we are a unit that continues to want to get better and continues to want to work on the fundamentals and techniques at practice, that’s going to help us moving forward.”
(You lead the league in receiving yards and are on pace for career highs. Is this the best you’ve ever been playing?) – “Nah. Truth be told, I’m just blessed to be in this scheme. Coach (Mike) McDaniel really believes in me and believes in who I am as a person, as a player. I’m just thankful for the opportunity. I could have been leading the league all seven of my years but I guess that’s not the case. So here I am here today leading the league. I’m thankful for the opportunity.”
(What did you think of QB Patrick Mahomes and your former team looked last night? Did you watch the game?) – “I did watch the game. I was actually watching it with my dad. Me and my dad had a bet. My dad was actually going for the Bucs and I told him, ‘That boy, Pat. He’s just special.’ It’s just something about that team. Patrick is just on another level. He’s playing a different game than everybody. When you watch him play and you watch just the energy that he brings out of that whole entire time, it’s just crazy. I’m just glad to see my boys out there balling.”
(You talked about wanting to be a leader on this team. In the past week or so, have you found yourself trying to rally guys or give encouraging words here and there with everything going on with QB Tua Tagovailoa?) – “For real, I’ve just been chasing my kids around this whole entire time. I’m just trying to manage that. (laughter) As far as the team, just being back in the building, it’s my whole message just to the receiver room that we just have to be better. In order for us to be a dominant team, in order for us to take off how we want to take off, receivers have to be able to block down the field. I feel like we’ve got to be better. Obviously there are some areas that we can improve on. But to open up more lanes and more gaps, and to help out the offensive line, our receivers have to block down the field. That will help us break longer runs.”
(I know you said the QB doesn’t necessarily matter to your production. I think you said you put up numbers with QB Alex Smith, you put up numbers with…) – “I’d put up numbers with you. (laughter)”
(But you spent a lot of time building your relationship this offseason with QB Tua Tagovailoa. What has your relationship been with QB Teddy Bridgewater?) – “If you go back and watch the clips, me and Teddy have some little highlights in there on Dolphins Twitter. I feel like he’s just a veteran guy – having that connection and being able to have some conversations about ball. Teddy understands my play style and I understand where he wants me to be at on the field. That’s how we connected deep down the field against the Bengals. Just me and him on the same page. Him telling me, ‘Hey ‘Reek, if we get a certain coverage, I need you on this side of the hash. I need you here.’ And stuff like that. So just us being able to recognize things together and being on the same page. I try to have a good relationship with all of my quarterbacks.”
(The Jets were the other team that was vying to trade for you. How close was that to happening this past offseason?) – “It was very close to happening but it was just those state taxes, man. (laughter) I realized I had to make a grown-up decision and here I am in a great city in Miami. It’s great weather. Great people. Beautiful people. Here I am.”
(With how well QB Tua Tagovailoa has played and how great his offseason was and the belief in him and just how great he was playing, is there an element of let’s do this for him? Let’s rally around him while he’s down?) – “For real, I don’t think there’s ever a moment when Tua is down. I just saw him in the locker room a moment ago and he’s smiling from ear to ear. As far as winning football games, we’re going to do everything we can in our power to win games. We want Tua on the field but we also understand the magnitude of this situation. His health moving forward is very important to all of us because life is so precious. You never want to take something like this for granted. We’re going to do everything we can to continue to win games. It would be the same mentality if I went down or if anybody went down. It’s the NFL for you. It’s the next man up. It’s sad.”
(Have you had a chance to look at the Jets defensively yet and what do you see?) – “I’ve had a chance to look at those guys. They have a terrific secondary. Two great corners. They’ve got two great safeties – Lamarcus Joyner and (Jordan) Whitehead. The front seven, those guys really fly around the ball. The mindset of the defensive coordinator, you never know what you’re going to get. It’s going to be a great game. I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to the challenge and I can’t wait.”
