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Marcel Louis Jacques, ESPN
LANDOVER, Md. – Tyreek Hill wants to break 2,000 receiving yards this season, but even as he continues to make NFL history, the Miami Dolphins wide receiver believes his success this season goes beyond numbers.
Hill recorded 157 yards and two touchdowns on five catches in Sunday’s 45-15 win over the Washington Commanders, with his scores coming on 78-yard and 60-yard connections with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in the first half.
When asked if this was the best season of his eight-year career, Hill said yes – but added that it had nothing to do with the stats he put up.
“I think I’m having my best season, even if I don’t have the numbers, you know what I’m saying? I feel like I’m doing a great job of being in the right position for the quarterback and making sure of that. I’m doing a great job and understanding this whole offense,” Hill said. This past offseason, I had the opportunity to look back and understand my mistakes from last year, and I dealt with it head on. I’m the type of player – I put a lot of responsibility on myself and I feel like as one of the leaders on this team, I just had to step up and be better.
“Obviously the stats looked good last year, but there was a lot of room for improvement, and I thought to myself, ‘You know what? I won’t accept that. I feel like I can be much better.’.”
Hill set a career high with 1,710 yards on 119 receptions in 2022 but has already recorded 1,481 yards on 92 catches in 12 games this season. The league leader in receiving yards is on pace for 2,098 yards, making him the first player in NFL history to break 2,000 receiving yards in a single season.
His big day was evident from Miami’s opening drive, when he beat Commanders cornerback Jartavious Martin for a 78-yard touchdown on Miami’s third offensive play of the game. Hill said Tagovailoa noticed the man covering without a safety over the top and changed his route to a slot fade. The play marked Hill’s 11th career touchdown of at least 75 yards, the fourth-most in NFL history. Leaders coach Ron Rivera said his defense wasn’t strong enough when Hill was released and should have provided assistance to Martin at the top.
“These guys are great at what they do, and they get paid too, man,” Hill said. “But at some point, it’s like, I don’t know, man. I just appreciate it. Thanks for disrespecting me, I guess.”
Hill’s second touchdown came midway through the second quarter, when he cut inside on a deep route. Tagovailoa threw the ball inside the numbers but closer to the sideline than the direction Hill was heading. Hill adjusted as the ball flew and caught the ball over the shoulder in stride for the score.
Initially, Hill said he called Tagovailoa out for not driving him correctly — but backed off when they reviewed the play on the sideline and realized Tagovailoa had thrown the ball “exactly where I was supposed to be.”
“On that particular play, the ball was designated to go a certain place by what we told our receivers,” Tagovailoa said. “And on that play, the ball — they were expecting the ball on the inside edge of the numbers. Now I can drive it more, but I’m trying to throw them away from the middle of the safety zone. So if you’re running back, it lands on the inside edge of the numbers, but phenomenal, great job.” Through what Tirek did. I mean, it’s hard to do, especially moving as fast as he does. This is amazing.”
Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel called Hill’s catch “insane” and compared him to Willie Mays tracking the ball down the middle of the field.
Hill’s performance marked his eighth 100-yard game of the season and third in as many weeks.
The 9-3 Dolphins have a three-game lead over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East and host the Tennessee Titans next week on “Monday Night Football” (8:15 ET, ESPN).
