MIAMI GARDENS — Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill played only 33 snaps in Monday night’s 28-27 loss to the Tennessee Titans after suffering an ankle injury in the first quarter.
Hill was tackled out of bounds after catching a pass from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and immediately writhed in pain before leaving the field. He initially walked across the field from the Titans’ sideline to the Dolphins’ but ran the final 20 or so yards after hearing «MVP» chants from the home crowd.
The NFL’s leader in receiving yards didn’t play another snap until the Dolphins’ second drive of the third quarter, inspired in part by a text from his wife.
«When it happened, like my first reaction was like, man, my ankle is gone,» he said. «My adrenaline kicked in, I ran off the field, then I sat for a while and it got stiff and I was going through a lot of pain. Then I just made up in my mind, I came in at halftime, I texted my wife, I was like, ‘This s— hurt.’ I need an ankle massage tonight, and she’s like, ‘You’d better get your ass back in that game, dawg.’ I was like, ‘All right.’
«So I just made up my mind that it’s going to hurt. It’s going to suck. Tonight and tomorrow morning. I just went back in the game on my own, without anybody saying, ‘Reek, go.’ It was like, no, f— this, I’ve got to get out there and bring some energy and be that spark.»
Miami was outgained by the Titans 403 yards to 366 and largely struggled without Hill in the game. Miami played without starting offensive linemen Terron Armstead, Robert Hunt and Isaiah Wynn, who were inactive, and center Connor Williams, who left the game because of a knee injury in the first quarter and did not return.
After the game, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said he hadn’t spoken with the training staff yet for an update on Williams, who was seen wearing a knee brace while standing on the sideline during the game.
«I know it would take a lot to keep him out,» McDaniel said. «It’s probably not the most positive.»
While the Dolphins averaged 5.1 yards per carry, rushing for 158 yards on 31 attempts, they were far less successful throwing the ball.
Against Miami’s decimated offensive line, the Titans attacked, pressuring Tagovailoa on 39% of his dropbacks Monday night. Tagovailoa completed just 4 of 11 passes for 27 yards when pressured and was sacked five times.
He finished with 240 scoreless yards, completing 23 of 33 passes and snapping a streak of 21 consecutive games with a passing touchdown.
«I think what they wanted game-plan-wise was to put a shell over our team, forcing us to run the ball, forcing us to beat them that way,» Tagovailoa said. «But when you have someone like Tyreek go down, it does make it tough, but when you also have a couple of your key O-linemen go down, as well, it does hurt the guys up front and sort of the way we operate.
«I think one of the toughest parts of that is a lot of those guys haven’t gotten reps at some of the positions. It’s not to say that we practice for situations like this to happen. It just so happened that Connor went down and we already had a couple of our guys out. But needless to say, I know the guys up front will get better. I know the guys around me will get better. I will continue to get better. That’s the only way we can grow. We’ve just got to watch the tape. Tough loss tonight, but it’s going to linger like this if we don’t do anything about that.»
Despite playing a minimized role, Hill finished with 61 yards on four catches. Jaylen Waddle led the team in receiving yards with 79 on six catches.
«So I just made up my mind that it’s going to hurt. It’s going to suck. Tonight and tomorrow morning. I just went back in the game on my own, without anybody saying, ‘Reek, go.’ It was like, no, f— this, I’ve got to get out there and bring some energy and be that spark.»
Tyreek Hill on returning to MNF game after injuring ankle
Miami clearly looked off rhythm without Hill, but McDaniel blamed the loss more so on a lack of red zone production — two touchdowns on five red zone trips — rather than Hill’s injury.
«There’s a good amount of offense that goes through [Hill]. However … ‘Ced’ [Cedrick Wilson Jr.] made a couple plays,» he said. «It wasn’t the reason for the lack of first half — or really first three quarter — points. I think there were just critical times that we would be off a hair on first or second down and you’re put in a third down situation, and our protection wasn’t exactly what maybe we’d be used to on a play or two.
«Obviously a player of Tyreek’s caliber, it hurts when he’s not in. However, I think there was plenty of offense to be had and we’ve got a lot of guys that I trust to do that. I think that just bottom line, you have things like that happen in a game, you’re going to lose and those are lessons that are learned usually one way, and that’s the hard one.»
At 9-4, the Dolphins still hold a two-game lead in the AFC East over their division rival Buffalo Bills and host the New York Jets on Sunday. With a win and a Bills loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Miami would set itself up for a division-clinching scenario in Week 16.
There is no guarantee that Hill plays against the Jets — unless the decision is left up to him.
«That’s never something that I would be thinking about,» he said. «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.»