If you have Tyreek Hill on your fantasy team or you're a Miami Dolphins fan, you were probably particularly ecstatic to see the wide receiver back in the game,after he left with an ankle injury on Monday Night Football against the Tennessee Titans. Turns out, you have his wife, Keeta Vaccaro Hill, to thank for his return.
Hill was in the game for just 33 snaps before the injury took place. Following a reception in the first quarter, he was tackled out of bounds, causing the ankle issue. Hill appeared to be in pain and while he was able to walk and eventually run across the field, it would be a while before he could return.
Tyreek Hill hyped up the crowd after he appeared to injure his knee after an awkward tackle 😤 pic.twitter.com/1qe5r8UssH
— ESPN (@espn) December 12, 2023
Fast forward to the third quarter and Hill was back in the game, which he says was a return fueled by a message from his wife. The NFL's leader in receiving yards noted that at first, all he could think of was the pain and he feared the worst for his ankle, but his attitude changed when he received a pep talk from Keeta.
"When it happened, like my first reaction was like, man, my ankle is gone," he said (via ESPN). "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.'"
Hill said following that message, he decided to just accept the pain and get back on the field.
"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," the 29-year-old said.
Hill's missed time certainly impacted the Dolphins offense, which finished with 366 yards (the Titans amassed 403 yards) in Miami's 28-27 loss to Tennessee. Hill finished the game with 61 yards on four receptions. Jaylen Waddle was the leading pass catcher on the Dolphins with 79 yards on six receptions.
After the game, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa noted that losing such a dynamic player makes things difficult and added that being without offensive lineman Terron Armstead, Robert Hunt and Isaiah Wynn for the entire game and center Connor Williams, who got hurt in the first quarter, added to the struggles.
"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."
Head coach Mike McDaniel said it was not just losing Hill, but scoring just two touchdowns in five trips to the red zone that resulted in the loss.
"There's a good amount of offense that goes through [Hill]," McDaniel said. "However ... 'Ced' [Cedrick Wilson Jr.] made a couple plays. 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."
The offense may have to function without Hill next week when they face the New York Jets, depending on how severe the injury is. Naturally Hill, and likely his wife, do not want him to sit out, but he did say that he will follow the lead of their medical staff.
"That's never something that I would be thinking about," Hill 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."
So far the season, Hill has 97 receptions for 1,542 yards and 12 touchdowns.
The loss put the 'Fins at 9-4 and while they remain first in the AFC East, they are now the No. 2 seed behind the 10-3 Baltimore Ravens in the playoff picture.
