McDaniel: ‘Conversation’ to dictate Hill’s status

Last updated: 2023/12/15 at 11:39 PM

BigP Published December 15, 2023

Marcel Louis-Jacques, ESPNDec 15, 2023, 01:07 PM ET
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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill‘s availability for Sunday’s game against the New York Jets remains in question, coach Mike McDaniel said Friday, although he provided the parameters for whether Hill will play.

McDaniel said Hill will miss his third straight practice Friday but that it’s not something necessarily worth reading into. The bigger qualifier for Hill’s availability is the conversation the coach will have with the NFL’s leading receiver about his injured ankle.

“Bottom line is we’ll have a conversation that will be based on — remember, this is Tyreek Hill’s career,” McDaniel said. “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.

“If he’s confident that he can go be himself, and I have the support of the trainers that are responsible to the risk, then he’ll play. If not, then he won’t, and literally every hour, for him, is imperative.”

Hill, who suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter, played a season-low 47% of the Dolphins’ offensive snaps in Monday’s loss to the Tennessee Titans. He was able to return in the third quarter but admitted after the game that he was in significant pain.

The All-Pro said he wasn’t able to cut and change directions at the trademark speed he is known for but added that he will not sit out Sunday if he can help it.

“That’s never something that I would be thinking about,” Hill said Monday. “But if the trainers come to me, if they see something in the scans whenever I get these scans, they say, ‘Hey, Reek, you can sit out,’ I do it. But me being me, I don’t want to sit out.

“I want to be able to help this team any way I can, and that’s just who I am. I just don’t want to miss any games.”

Hill has 1,542 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns this season. He enters Week 15 on pace to set the NFL record for receiving yards in a season (1,964 by Calvin Johnson in 2012) and potentially surpass 2,000 yards.