Tyreek Hill – August 17, 2023
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Thursday, August 17, 2023
WR Tyreek Hill
(I was just asking LB Jaelan Phillips how he felt his ramp up is towards the regular season. Where are you at right now? If the season started tomorrow, would you be ready to go? Or do you still need to work on some things?) – “I don’t know, I should ask you that. How have I been looking? (laughter) I feel I’ve been doing a great job, but for me to be able to succeed, obviously it depends on other guys, whether it’s the offensive line, whether it’s Tua (Tagovailoa) getting me the rock. So everything right now is a process. So right now, we’re just building up to that. I feel like the last two practices that we’ve had have been good. Obviously, you’re going to have ups and downs in football, but it’s part of the game. You go to the film room, you learn from it, and you get better from it. And you don’t let the same thing happen over again the next day. So that’s one thing I learned throughout my career.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel mentioned this morning the two interceptions that QB Tua Tagovailoa threw yesterday was him trying to maximize his abilities. How much do you urge Tua to be aggressive in these practices?) – “Hey, look, I’m telling Tua, ‘I’m glad you made that throw’ because to me, this is what practice is for. You use these moments right here to create scenarios, try to throw a guy a ball in certain situations. I believe his first pick was Tua was trying to look off the left side linebacker, and he messed around and looked the other linebacker into the window trying to get me to ball. So it’s just learning things. That way whenever the season comes, he knows he can’t do that. Like he knows exactly where he has to put his eyes. In the two minute one, the score was seven to nine, we don’t have to be aggressive down here. We’ve already got two big chunk plays. First one to Durham (Smythe), second one to myself. And we are inside the 20-yard line. And Tua already knows that. But for him to stay aggressive and stay in that aggressive mindset, I love it.”
(Did you feel like you scored on the one before that?) – “Oh, it’s going to be a bang bang (play). Jimmie Ward is a great player. It’s going to be a bang bang (play). But I like myself over anybody.”
(We focus on the physical aspect of the game, but you’re a very smart player. In terms of honing in on the mental side, has that something that’s always been a key for you? Or was there a point in your career where you really started to focus on film study or anything like that?) – “Believe this or not, I don’t watch no film. I just know the game of football inside out. I’ve been playing this game since I was a kid, since I was like, five, six, and I grew up in a football household. Plus, my dad was a coach. So I know every defense. I know every defensive line, what they doing. I know everything. The safety is going to tell the story. I know all of it. And when I when I first came into the league, obviously, I was athletic. Obviously I had the ability to make plays. But the next step is being able to recognize coverages, being able to understand the DB’s leverage and what certain releases you need to use. So I’ve been all about that and I’m getting the young guys on that too, though. Whether it’s (Jaylen) Waddle, whether it’s other guys in our room.”
(How tough is it to keep you off the field? We talk about load management. I noticed even on one-on-ones, you kind of sat that one out. But when it was a team competition, you’re right back in there.) – “I wasn’t even supposed to practice today, but I just had to find a way to get the guys going. One-on-ones were kind of slow for us. We began to pick it up. But no, I just love competition so much. I feel like I just can’t get away from it. The trainer, he told me we’re going to ramp you down a little bit. You can just chill today. You can relax. I only get one chance to play this game that I love because I know it’s going to go by fast. I can remember yesterday when I first got drafted and came into the league. And here I am in year eight, doing what I love. So there’s not many jobs where you get to work outside and have fun and run fast and run by people and score and you get a crowd reaction. So, I’m just enjoying every moment of it, and then I got my kids out here with me so that’s even better for me. So, I’m enjoying it.”
(Which son is faster out of RB Raheem Mostert’s and yours as well?) – “Well, both our sons lined up and my son had the edge on his son by like three yards. He even threw up the peace sign on him, which was which is very bad.”
(Is there a technique that you could teach Raheem’s son? I know the start is a little slower, but is there something that you can give for fans out there that want to be faster?) – “For the fans that want to be faster? Number one don’t eat like cheetah because cheetah eats like crap. I’m going to eat some (Raising) Canes right after this. Number two, make sure you hydrate. Cheetah doesn’t hydrate, that’s why I cramp a lot. Make sure you hydrate. So don’t do the things that I do. And number three, just got to believe in yourself. Confidence is everything.”
(We saw OL Terron Armstead got hurt today. How important is he to this offense?) – “We all know. I just said it. I need those other guys for me to be able to make plays. I feel that the offensive line and defensive line are the most important people on the field. Obviously, receivers, we get the success, we get the glory, the Instagram followers and all that. But Terron is a huge part of this team. I feel like he’s more important than I am because the left side, we need someone to really hold that side down. Just to see him go down, which I think is not serious – I’m sure he’ll shake back, he’ll be straight. As soon as it happened I went up to him and said ‘You straight?’ and he said ‘I’m straight man, I’m just old.’ (laughter)”
(You mentioned earlier that you don’t watch film. So especially if you’re going against a corner who hasn’t been established in the league, how do you get a read on him? Do you use the first few plays of the game to get used to what he’s doing?) – “So Madden has a good tell of how good players are. So, I just played Madden the night before and I go look at all the ratings. So let’s say for instance, they had Steve Nelson and Derek Stingley over there. Two phenomenal players by the way. I just go get on Madden, I go to the EA rosters then I scroll down and see what their awareness is, their speed he is and their strength, and that’s how I get a good tell on them.”
