Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill was pulled over by police and handcuffed on his way to the opening game of the 2024 season. After the final game, the former West Alabama standout said, “I’m out, bro. It was great playing here, but …”
To the consternation of coach Mike McDaniel, Hill also decided not to play in the second half of the last game to put a fitting cap on the season.
But Hill was not “out.” On Wednesday, with the Dolphins in the final stage of their offseason workouts, Hill talked to reporters.
“Obviously, emotions were high then,” Hill said, “but at the end of the day, I’m just looking to move forward from that, hoping that I can prove myself and prove to my teammates that I’m still one of them ones who’s chasing 2K, one of those ones chasing playoff dreams and all of that great stuff.”
When Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa led the NFL in passing yards in 2023, Hill led the league in receiving yards. But when the former Alabama All-American QB missed six games – four because of a concussion and two with a hip injury -- Hill dropped from 1,799 receiving yards in 2023 to 959 in 2024, and the wide receiver failed to receive Pro Bowl recognition for the first time in his nine NFL seasons.
Hill said he’s confident he won’t lapse into his 2024 attitude in 2025.
“For one, I’m going to church more, and I’m doing more therapy more,” Hill said. “I’ve been finding that more on my side lately, being more involved in that. And then just understanding what Coach is trying to do. I feel like when I first got here, I wouldn’t say that I wasn’t all the way bought in, but me having a better understanding of what he’s trying to push throughout the locker room, I feel like now I understand him better. I understand Tua better. I understand (passing-game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Darrell Bevill). Our new receivers coach (Robert Prince), me and him clicked immediately when he got here. Everybody is on the same page, man.”
But Hill said he had some damage to repair with his teammates.
“Every day, you’ve got to prove, like, who you are,” Hill said. “It doesn’t matter how much you’ve earned or how much success you’ve had in this league, it’s always the next-day mentality, and that’s something my grandparents raised me by and that’s something that Mike preaches here in this locker room, so every day I’m trying to prove myself as one of those guys that this team can depend on in crucial moments. …
“I’ve got to prove myself. This OTAs, training camp, I’ve got to prove myself. I’ve got to show up different. The mindset’s got to be different.”
Hill already has shown up different in one way.
“I’ve been training a lot, man,” Hill said. “I’m weighing 183 (pounds). When I first got to Miami, I was 197, but I feel like I’m back to my original playing weight whenever I was back in Kansas City, so I feel great man. …
“I would say it’s just something I wanted to do, man. In recent years, obviously, I could run with anybody, run by anybody. But I think having that endurance, having that ability to not get tired on third downs is very important, so I wanted to slim down and actually lose body fat. I committed myself to eating right, training hard every day and just drinking more water.”
This offseason, Hill had surgery on his right wrist to repair an injury sustained in the 2024 season. The recovery has limited his participation in the offseason program.
“Tyreek has done a great job of being proactive with when he got the surgery done,” McDaniel said, “and then making sure that he is able to do as much as he can with the team, which has very much included his daily participation in how he attacks all of our strength program, whether he’s able to run routes and not block, quarterbacks have gotten used to him getting routes run. As we really train his way back into recovery of that hand, then he’ll start catching the ball. But he’s been participating above and beyond.”
