Miami Dolphins to let star wide receiver decide if he can play vs. New York Jets
ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that the Miami Dolphins will let Tyreek Hill decide whether or not he can play vs. the New York Jets — which likely means he will suit up in a pivotal AFC East matchup. #FinsUP
Late last night, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Miami Dolphins plan to let superstar wide receiver Tyreek Hill decide whether he can play Sunday vs. the New York Jets. And as you may expect, this is massive news for a team looking to separate itself from the rest of the AFC East.
After all, it seemed like almost a certainty — at least in my opinion — that Hill would sit out on Sunday after suffering an ankle injury on Monday Night vs. the Tennessee Titans. Hill didn’t hold anything back when he was asked about the ankle injury after the game.
“It was a lot of pain, man. It sucked. When it actually happened, I’ve obviously been dealing with some ankle injuries this whole season, and when it happened, like my first reaction was like, man, my ankle is gone. 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.”
At first glance, Hill’s ankle injury seemed severe. Couple that with Miami’s cautious approach with injured players, and it seemed like a foregone conclusion he wouldn’t be playing this weekend. But to get to where Tyreek Hill is and achieve things that he’s on pace to achieve doesn’t come easy. And like anything, sometimes you must pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get back to doing what you do.
For Hill, that’s putting cornerbacks in a blender and being a difference-maker in Mike McDaniel’s offense. Speaking of McDaniel, here’s what Miami’s head coach had to say about Hill’s status vs. the Jets.
“If he’s confident that he can go be himself and I have the support of the trainers that’s responsible to the risk, then he’ll play. If it’s not that, then he won’t and literally every hour for him is imperative. He has had the same energy that he has had all season, which I’ve never seen somebody take a step like this who’s already a great player and he is in this building – what is that, a 12-hour day – of focusing, knowing everything to do and rehabbing. So he’s doing everything he can. I don’t know. I don’t have a feeling yet because we’re getting ahead of it, but he’ll be spending time rehabbing. We’ll see what happens.”
Through 13 games, Hill leads the NFL in receiving yards with 1,542 yards and 12 touchdowns. And although his status for Sunday is still uncertain, Hill made it very clear earlier in the week how determined he is to play.
“You know what, man, that’s never a question in my head. That’s never something that I would be thinking about. 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.”
Will Tyreek Hill suit up today? If not, which wide receiver do you think will step up in his absence? Let us know in the comments section below
