Tyreek Hill – September 2, 2024
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Monday, September 2, 2024
WR Tyreek Hill
(What does it mean to you to be named a team captain again?) – “It means I’m still doing my thing here. I’m very proud. I’m very honored for my teammates to vote me in that role. I feel like it shows how much growth I’ve had throughout my career. I’m very excited to be in the position that I’m in. I’m honored.”
(What’s your excitement level for the season opener? Is it any greater than it has been than any other season opener. This is probably the best Dolphins team that’s been here in years.) – “We’re all excited. We got a lot of weapons, a lot of playmakers on this team man. Everybody is on the very edge of their seats just waiting for this moment. These three days we had off all I could think about is just lining up playing alongside of the guys on offense. I’m very excited. Every year is another opportunity to win games and create memories with a great group of guys. You said it. This is our best team we’ve had since we’ve been here. What a time to be alive, to be a Dolphins fan.”
(You sent out a tweet on the age of the team. You guys are the oldest team in the NFL. Obviously there are guys who impact that… you included. Is there something that comes with that age like wisdom, experience, knowledge?) – “It does. Having a guy like ‘T. Stead’ (Terron Armstead), having a guy like Calais (Campbell). Those guys know so much about the game and those guys are so passionate about the game. Just to have those guys in the locker room, like hearing some of the stories, hearing some of the great tales that they got from other teams; they bring a certain swagger to this team that we haven’t had. A guy like Jordan Poyer brings a different mindset to the defense. Myself, I bring a different swagger to this offense. It’s fun to have older guys on the team. It’s great to have young guys, too, but I believe if there is a blend of both and they mesh well together, a team can be real good. And we got that with this team. Jalen Ramsey is another. He brings a different side to this whole entire team. Not just the defense, but the whole entire team so it’s fun to have.”
(You started this training camp talking about the next step for this offense, being able to grind it out with long drives every game. Do you see that from the work this summer?) – “Yeah, for sure. I definitely see that. Tua (Tagovailoa) has done a great job of over communicating exactly what he wants as far as details and route and Mike (McDaniel) our head coach, he has given him the keys to the car which is even more of a beautiful thing. I believe with that, that gives all of us the ability to play free and just be ourselves and just to be creative within our routes. Obviously within the time of the play, but I feel like this training camp we got better at that. We put together some good drives against some good teams. Falcons are a real good defense. The Commanders I feel like are a real good defense because they added some pieces, and obviously against Tampa, too. We’ve been getting better.”
(How is your health? Has time healed the things you were dealing with a couple of weeks ago?) – “I’m fine. I just needed some days off. That’s it. I’m fine, I’m healthy. All of my fantasy draft people, I’m fine. I’m A-OK, 100 percent. I just wanted to troll y’all a little bit.”
(Along those lines, you are having an outstanding camp, WR Jaylen Waddle was having an outstanding camp, CB Jalen Ramsey. But you guys all got kind of shut down. How do you feel about the momentum of camp? How did you end camp because you guys were balling in camp?) – “We obviously were doing our thing, but at the same time we got to be mindful of our bodies. For me I’m an older player. Sometimes I forget that and I forget about the maintenance of my body. That’s why we’ve got people inside of this building for that job. They tell us, ‘you need to back it off a little bit.’ That’s why you see me come out to practice late sometimes because we’ve got people inside the building to say, ‘hey we’re going to slow you down a little bit today. XYZ.’ I just spend that time working out, inside running, doing different stuff.”
(I’ve always wondered if you thought it was fair that everybody will be on the field practicing for 50 minutes and you come out from the air conditioning and run a 9-route on CB Ethan Bonner?) – “You know what’s crazy though? If I was a younger player –and this is how I think – if I was a younger player I’d take advantage of that because if I’m filling in the role of Tyreek or Jaylen (Waddle) and I’m making the same plays, that’s great. That’s kind of how I made my name for myself. When the older guy didn’t want to come and practice, I’d come in and make plays. So as a young player that’s great. If you want to stay in, ‘Reek,’ stay in. if you want to stay in, Waddle, stay in. But Malik Washington this is your time to show up. This is your time to make our job harder which is fun.”
(What do you think of Head Coach Mike McDaniel’s contract extension?) – “I absolutely love it. Absolutely love it. I’m glad that they did the right thing. I’d seen something on Twitter the other day that said that every coach that the Dolphins paid, they fire them a year after so hoping we can change that right there.”
(You mentioned earlier about Head Coach Mike McDaniel giving QB Tua Tagovailoa the keys to the offense. We saw Tua make the jump he did last year, making the Pro Bowl and all. What do you see as major differences in Tua 2023 versus Tua 2024?) – “I’m going to keep pounding the table and keep saying that he’s more vocal. He’s more vocal in the huddle, he’s more vocal in the locker room, he’s vocal everywhere. Like everywhere I walk inside of this building you’re going to hear Tua mouth like to the point where I’m like, I wish you’d shut up now. (laughter) He’s been great, though. Tua is a great teammate, and he does a great job of just overcommunicating to all the wideouts even if it is a good rep. Good rep or bad rep he’s always coming up to us making sure we see that route or that play the same as him. And he does that with everybody on the offense which I think is a great thing. Versus when I first came in here, we’d run a play and then it’d be like ‘Where’s Tua at? I need to talk to him about this play.’ Versus now, he’s coming to find you. It’s a beautiful thing to see. The same thing that Pat (Mahomes) used to do back in KC making sure that guys see it the same as him. It’s great.”
(What should we expect to see out of WR Jaylen Waddle this year?) – “All-Pro. I’d say All-Pro this year. He’s taken his game to another level in the classroom. He’s taking it more serious. He’s moved to the back of the classroom with me and River (Cracraft). So he’s sitting beside us now. He’s asking more questions which is great. He’s very eager to get better. And for me I believe that’s where it starts. To be able to take you game to the next level as a not ideal receiver size; you’re fast, you’re twitchy, you got to be able to do it in the classroom and he’s done a great job taking advice from our Coach Wes (Welker), Coach(Jonathan) Krause and all of the older guys in our room. I expect All-Pro, WR1 all of that. Lead our team.”
(You mentioned WR Malik Washington earlier. What do you think of the rest of the receiving corps after you and WR Jaylen Waddle? Especially now that you’ve got WR River Cracraft down, WR Odell Beckham Jr., just the prospect for the rest of the guys. Even WR Braxton Berrios or the new guys, WR Grant DuBose?) – “We have a very interesting room. I’m glad that we added some height. (laughter) I told Wes (Welker), I’m like, ‘hey bro, y’all keep on adding these short guys.’ As far as our room I feel like we’ve got one of the best entire groups in the NFL. As far as like explosive, as far as big play abilities, as far as all of that. We have exactly what we need to win games in this league. Big games, whatever games you want to name. We have a great room and we have great coaches in our room who do a great job of making sure that we pay attention to detail. Coach Wes, he does a great job each and every week. We are very fortunate to have him. Hall of Famer, by the way.”
(I thought it would’ve been healthy last year if you would’ve gotten 2,000 yards. I thought it would’ve helped this offense. If you don’t have at least 1,700 yards this season how does this offense get better? How is it better than the previous two years?) – “We’ve got other guys to make plays. It’s football for that reason. When I was in KC I had 1,000 yards one year and we won the Super Bowl. Which is great. Yards are great, but at the end of the day I want to be able to win games. I want to be able to do something special here in Miami. It would be great if you had back-to-back to back 1,700 yards, but obviously we’ve got to do what’s best for the team and what’s best of the team is making sure we’re able to put together some good drives and win games when it counts.”
(You’ve been on championship teams. What is it they have mentally not physically? Is there a difference mentally or is there something this team needs to learn?) – “I think we are doing it this year. I believe we are actually doing it this year. A lot of guys are hanging out outside of the building each and every week. That’s something that is rare. There are so many things you could be doing in Miami. In Kansas City there wasn’t that many things for guys to do so guys had to hang together. But in Miami guys can go here, can go to South Beach, can go here, can go there. This is the year that I’m seeing guys hanging out. I can say that is one thing that Odell (Beckham Jr.) did bring to this team. He makes sure that guys are hanging out each and every week. I like that.”
(You mentioned that size of the receivers room. I’d have to check you guys are one of the smallest in terms of height. Do you think height actually matters at the receiver’s position anymore?) – “No, it don’t matter. I just be jiving. It don’t matter. I feel like we set the standard. As a player myself, you dictate who you are in this league. You can be anything you want to. I could’ve played quarterback if I wanted to, if I wanted to put my mind to it. There are no rules or no regulations to that. They try to say ‘hey, you got to run this speed, you got to be this height, you got to have this hand size.’ If you know how to play football, you know how to play football at the end of the day. If you know how to catch, you know how to catch. You can have six-inch hands – I don’t have the biggest hands, but I know how to catch so I don’t care about none of that. I’m him. (laughter)”
