Tua's Interesting Tyreek 2,000 Comments

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa discussed his wide receiver's quest to reach 2,000 yards.

Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill (10) celebrates his touchdown scored against the Los Angeles Chargers with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) during the first half at SoFi Stadium last season. / Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Tyreek Hill's quest for 2,000 last season was an actual thing. Tua Tagovailoa says it almost became a focal point for the Miami Dolphins.

Tagovailoa's interview on earlier this week drew national headlines for his comments about former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. Still, it also should have been noteworthy for what he said about Hill and the team's pursuit of making him the first 2,000-yard receiver in NFL history.

"Last year, we were, in a way, really trying to help Tyreek get to that 2,000-yard mark," Tua said. "It wasn't like we were trying to hide that. It was pretty obvious. Trying to feed him the ball and whatnot."

Hill was on pace to reach the 2,000-yard milestone before the Monday night game against the Tennessee Titans in mid-December. Still, the ankle injury sidelined him the next week and limited his output down the stretch.

Tua said that fellow wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, who had a third 1,000-yard performance in as many seasons with the Dolphins, was on board with the idea of feeding Hill, even at the cost of targets for Waddle.

"We all have a good enough relationship off the field to where Jaylen can come up to me at any point, even in the games and whatnot, and tell me, like, 'I need some some shine too.' And I can go up to Mike and say, 'Hey, like, we need some more plays for X in this drive or throughout this game,' and Reek [Tyreek] would be cool with that.

"Well, the cool thing about it was, like, Jaylen knew we were trying to do that for Reek, and he's like, 'Dude, I'm just here to support, like, whatever I can do. Like, if I get the ball, I'm making the best out of that opportunity and whatnot.'"

HILL'S NEW OUTLOOK

Before last season, Hill proclaimed he would lead the league with 2,000 receiving yards or better. While he fell short of the 2,000 mark, he did lead the NFL in receiving yardage.

Hill is talking about something other than 2,000 yards as a goal this year, even though he obviously wouldn't object.

"That'd be great," he said. "Grand scenario. But I feel like at the same time I have to understand that the position that I'm in and me being one of the leaders and just singling out an individual goal like that — because I had time to go look at it and talk about it with my family; and that's very selfish of me."

Hill's goals for this reason are straightforward and team-focused.

"I would want us to, A, win a playoff game," he said. "I would love that. We're going to start with that. Then moving forward continuing to build on that, we're going to move to the Super Bowl. It's one step at a time."

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