Tyreek Hill – September 26, 2024
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Thursday, September 26, 2024
WR Tyreek Hill
(Regardless of who is the quarterback, how much confidence do you have with whoever is under center Monday night?) – “Very confident, man. We have a heck of a coaching staff who’s able to put together a crazy gameplan. It’s going to be a crazy game Monday night. I’m looking forward to it. Obviously today I feel pretty strong (with) what we did as an offense. Everything looked the way it normally looked and it normally felt. So it was fun today, man.”
(What was it like working with QB Tyler Huntley today?) – “I worked with Tim Boyle, so I really don’t know. Like I said, Tim Boyle was out there throwing, they even had (Jaylen) Waddle throwing. We are in the process of looking for anybody who can throw – open applications. (laughter)”
(How difficult is it to develop chemistry with a quarterback when you haven’t had that kind of work?) – “It’s tough, but I feel like if you’re a pro and you’re all about your business relationships can be formed easily in this league. A lot of these guys have played ball in this league for a while, Tim Boyle, ‘Snoop,’ (Tyler Huntley) so it’s easy. You spend time during this whole entire week. You practice and then you spend time without the coaches. We did a lot of that today. That’s how you build relationships, that’s how you build trust, that’s how you build timing, and like I said, it’s going to be real special Monday.”
(It’s obviously been surprising to us how the offense has performed the first three weeks. I can’t imagine how surprising it’s been for you.) – “Yeah 33 points, that sucks, right? Yeah man, it’s not fun being on the short stick of a bad offense. I look at it like this – I’d rather us go through adversity early, figure it out and then begin to gain momentum towards the end. Usually we start off hot. My first two years here with Coach (Mike) McDaniel and staff with the Dolphins, we started off hot every year and we slowly begin to slowly trend down. Now we have a chance to start slow and then build momentum up towards the end. We’ve got a beautiful thing going right here, man. It’s either we’re going to be a part of the problem, or we’re going to continue to add on to the problem. We got a lot of great guys on this team who’s willing to be part of the solution.”
(Outside of not having your quarterback, what has in your mind held the offense back?) – “We’re just not doing a lot of things right. We got a great team. When we get a big gain, we’ll either get illegal formation or we’ll get a holding. We’re always starting drives behind the eight ball. We always shoot ourselves in the foot. We always have a lot of penalties. We’ll get a big 12-yard gain, flag. It will be first-and-20. It’s tough. As a head coach or offensive coordinator, it’s tough calling plays whenever it’s first-and-20 and it’s like you already got plays designed for second-and-3 or second-and-5 or whatever. We’ve got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot and start trusting our fundamentals, trusting our technique, relying on each other, and playing as a team. Leaders and captains, we’ve done a great job of telling both sides of the ball that. I’ve done a great job of telling the young guys, ‘Hey, trust your technique. Trust your fundamentals. Don’t try to go outside of that to make a play,’ you know what I’m saying? It’ll all fall together.”
(I’ve never seen a coach be bigger into player empowerment than Head Coach Mike McDaniel is. This week has he taken the lead in getting on your butts or is it the captains that have done it – challenged you guys to do better on offense?) – “Yeah, he’s dope with that. Coach (McDaniel), he understands every player. He understands what every player needs and stuff like that. He puts his trust in his captains and his leadership. We do a great job of setting the standard at practice. They give us the script; we know what we need to get done at practice. We had a padded practice today, I’m sure you’re not used to seeing that on the first practice day of the week. We just wanted to set the standard of the whole week, like we want to be physical, we want to be fast and we want to start attacking defenses and our defense, they want to be better at certain things. I wouldn’t say he’s been on our butts, but he does it in his own way I would say.”
(Getting you and WR Jaylen Waddle the ball has never really been a problem here, but the last two games there weren’t quit as many touches obviously. Has anyone talked to you or WR Jaylen Waddle about possibly getting the ball in both of your hands more?) – “Our job is to be a good teammate. As frustrating as it is as a player because it can get tough for both of us because we’re so used to being such big game changers and stuff like that, it’s tough. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to understand that we have great players on this team who can make plays and whenever our plays come, we got to make our plays. We just can’t be the guy that always wants the ball and then when the ball comes, we don’t make the play. We got to be able to rely on our teammates.”
(Sometimes do you have to be the guy that demands the ball?) – “I got out of that. I’ve grown through that stage of my life. I’ve been talking to my therapist and she said, ‘Don’t get into arguments on the sideline,’ so I’ve let it go. I’ve let that side of me go of demanding the ball.”
(Do you feel there’s more receivers can do for whoever is the quarterback in? Do you feel you’re getting similar separation to other times?) – “Oh yeah. We’re still fast, ain’t we? We’re still going to be able to separate, but obviously there is a lot of things that go into that. There’s a lot of things that play into it – offensive line, running back, DBs getting their hands on it. There’s a lot of things that go into it, because a lot of people see things differently. Tua (Tagovailoa) may see something different than (Tim) Boyle. Boyle may see something different than Skylar (Thompson). ‘Snoop’ (Tyler Huntley) may see something different than Tua. It’s all about timing and trust, building that relationship with the quarterback.”
(What have your conversations been like with each of the quarterbacks when you’re not working with them, just talking about what to look forward to on Monday?) – “I’m just here for the team. I’m just here for the team. Whatever this team needs me to do to help them win, that’s what I’m going to do. If that’s get three targets and block five times, I’ll do that. But if it’s get 12 targets and go for 100, I’ll do that. Whatever it takes, I’m going to do my job.”
(What’s been your impression of QB Tyler ‘Snoop’ Huntley in the time you’ve had here with him so far?) – “I love ‘Snoop.’ I love ‘Snoop.’ I had the chance to hang out with him at the Pro Bowl. Tremendous guys, tremendous work ethic. He’s real quiet. For me, I’ve seen it; I’ve been watching film of him since he’s got here, I’m like, ‘This dude can make every throw. This dude is special with his legs.’ He’s a special talent. The only thing – we’ve got a lot of things that go into this offense. We got motions, we’ve got getting the play out before, so he’s done a good job of staying in the film room learning all of that stuff. Excited to see if him or (Tim) Boyle goes, it should be fun.”
