The Latest on Tyreek's Status for Week 15
Tyreek Hill was not involved when the Miami Dolphins conducted their only regular practice of Week 15, but there's still a chance he'll play against the New York Jets on Sunday.
Head coach Mike McDaniel indicated that Hill would be listed as questionable on the final injury report of the week coming out late Friday afternoon, four days after he sustained an ankle injury in the 28-27 loss against the Tennessee Titans.
"In theory, he would be able to practice if he didn't have the standard of practice that he has," McDaniel said. "Right now we're just focused on getting it is healthy as possible. And then bottom line is, we'll have a conversation that will be based upon — remember, this is Tyreek Hill's career. He's a very experienced player. I handle very experienced players different than I handle younger guys, because they know what they signed up for and it's his career.
"So when we talk, this is what will happen. If he's confident, and then I have the support of the medical guys, he's confident that he can go be himself and I have the support of the trainers that's responsible to the risk, and he'll play. If it's not that, then he won't."
McDaniel added that Hill has done everything in his power to continue his streak of not having missed a game since the 2020 season when he was with the Kansas City Chiefs.
"Literally every hour for him is imperative," McDaniel said. "He has had the same energy that he's had all season. I've never seen somebody take a step like this who's already a great player. And he is in this building a 12-hour day of focusing on knowing everything to do and rehabbing. He's doing everything he can. I don't have a feeling as of yet, because we're getting ahead of it. But he'll be spending time rehabbing and we'll see what happens."
HILL STILL CHASING 2,000
There's no downplaying Hill's importance to the offense, but the last thing the Dolphins want to do is to see him try to play before he's really ready and make his situation worse.
Hill is a true competitor — he's always saying "Cheetah don't get hurt" — and he's also chasing history in terms of becoming the first NFL player with 2,000 receiving yards in a season.
He remains on pace for that mark even after missing time against Tennessee because he still was able to finish with four catches for 61 yards. Hill is at 1,542 yards on the season, meaning he needs to average 114.5 yards over the final four games to reach the milestone. If he were to miss the Jets game but be able to return and play the final three, he then would need to average 153 yards.
Even playing at less than 100 percent, Hill had the two longest plays of the Tennessee game for the Dolphins after he returned from the locker room and sideline with catches of 25 and 23 yards.
But, as McDaniel pointed out Thursday, simply having Hill on the field makes a huge difference for the Miami offense because of the attention he commands.
"For the most part, if all 11 defenders are aware of where he's at on every snap, whether or not the calls change or not, you just have a huge impact on the game when he has the ball and when he doesn't," McDaniel said. "It's very much like any one of the best players in the league that has nothing to do with anybody else. We have a lot of capable playmakers. A lot of really talented people on the team, but everybody knows that there's someone that you can't exactly replicate anywhere, let alone on this team.
"He's a special player for us and he will always have an impact on the game, even when he's not catching the ball or doing those things just by his presence out there. You have to account for him. He takes a personal when people don't."
