Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill called Tua Tagovailoa’s comments ‘needed’
Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa made headlines last week after he said Tyreek Hill is still continuing to repair his relationships within the team.
On Friday, the franchise receiver called Tagovailoa’s comments “needed” as he looks to hold himself more accountable.
“Tua’s comments were needed,” Hill said. “He’s obviously the leader of our team. He sets the standard. I’m just trying to be the best teammate, best version of myself I can be for this team every day.”
To his credit, it appears Hill has made a concerted effort to do the little things. He said he’s taking notes during meetings for the first time in his career. He’s having open conversations with teammates, per Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel. And he has been present at the beginning of practice to stretch, something that virtually never happened during the 2024 season.
“It’s very important because football is a team sport,” Hill said. “I think whenever guys are able to see me come out here and stretch with them, it keeps the engine rolling with the team as a whole.”
Tagovailoa got brutally honest about his relationship with Hill on July 23, roughly seven months after the star wideout essentially asked for a trade.
“We’re still continuing” to rebuild it, Tagovailoa said. “But it’s not just with me — it’s with a lot of the guys. I’m not the only one who heard that. You guys aren’t the only people that heard that.”
Added Tagovailoa: “When you say something like that, you don’t just come back from that with ‘Hey my bad.’ You got to work that relationship up. You got to build everything up again. It’s still a work in process.”
Following a disappointing 32-20 loss to the New York Jets that put the Dolphins below .500, Hill looked to be on his way out of Miami. The context, however, is important: Hill had just wrapped season — one of the worst of his career — in which he played all 17 games with a fractured wrist.
“There are a lot of things I need to reassess about my career,” Hill said Jan. 5. “Just see what I need to do to continue to get better as a player so I can continue to reach that 1,000-yard mark. It [stinks] missing QB 1 [Tagovailoa].... I’ve got to do what’s best for me and my family, whether that’s here or wherever the case may be. I’m opening the door. I’m out, bro.
“It was great playing here, but at the end of the day, I’ve got to do what’s best for my career. I’m too much of a competitor to be just out there.”
Although Hill would do an about-face over the course of the offseason, it’s clear that his comments certainly rankled some of his teammates. Tough conversations needed to be had, according to McDaniel, and Tagovailoa’s comments were just a manifestation of just that.
“In any relationship, trust is built through transparency and I think it’s super important in situations to just open the air,” McDaniel said July 23. “A lot of conversations are had and I think what you’re seeing is direct communication that’s real, not fake. I don’t think anyone was surprised” by Tagovailoa’s comments.
When asked about the status of his quarterback and receiver’s current relationship, McDaniel emphasized that anything of importance, especially relationships, takes work.
“I think there’s a lot to be said about a leader saying the hard things,” McDaniel said Friday. “I think there’s a lot to be said about ‘Reek’ and how clear they’ve been towards each other so that you can say these things and call a spade a spade. I see that as grown man stuff. Like that, that is real — that relationships aren’t created in a vacuum of dandelions and daisies. Relationships — real ones, ones that matter — you go through a process of earning and delivering on trust. What I’ve seen is it’s important to the players on the team that they are connected to each other both on the football field and off and when you have people going in that direction and focused on that, there’s only good things that can come from that.”
As much as media pundits and fans alike want to speculate on Tagovailoa and Hill’s relationship, nobody truly knows what’s going on except the people inside the locker room. Besides, it’s still the early days of training camp. The regular-season opener is still more than a month away; any issues between Tagovailoa, Hill and the rest of the team should be solved by then.
What can’t be forgotten in this saga is the old adage “winning solves a lot of problems.” Once the wins start to stack up, any remaining resentment should begin to dissipate.
This story was originally published August 1, 2025 at 12:46 PM.
