Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill Says He Thought His Ankle Was ‘Gone’ After Injury vs. Titans

AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell

Miami Dolphins superstar wide receiver Tyreek Hill divulged Monday night that he initially thought he had suffered a serious ankle injury on a sideline tackle during the first quarter of Monday’s 28-27 home loss to the Tennessee Titans.

According to ESPN’s Marcel Louis-Jacques, Hill suggested that he was initially concerned about the injury, but made the decision on his own to re-enter the game during the second half:

“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. Then I just made up in my mind, I came in at halftime, I texted my wife, I was like, ‘This s–t 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–k this, I’ve got to get out there and bring some energy and be that spark.”

According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the NFL does not take issue with Hill’s halftime texts to his wife, as injured players are allowed to use their phone to inform others of their injury status.

After missing the rest of the first quarter and the entire second quarter, Hill went back into the game during the third quarter, but he was limited the rest of the way, and spent far more time on the sidelines than he normally would.

Hill played 47 percent of the snaps, which was his second-lowest percentage of snaps played in a game this season, and he finished with only four receptions for 61 yards and no touchdowns.

Hill’s injury occurred on a screen pass that was bottled up by the Tennessee defense. As Hill ran to the sideline in an effort to get something out of a negative play, Titans cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting pulled him down, resulting in his left leg getting bent awkwardly.

After remaining down on the ground for several seconds, Hill got to his feet, began sprinting and attempted to pump up the crowd.

That seemed to indicate Hill would be fine, but he spent the rest of the first half on the sidelines and did not initially take the field with the Dolphins offense in the second half.

The 29-year-old veteran, who leads the NFL with 1,542 receiving yards and 12 receiving touchdowns, eventually made his way back into the lineup, and while he was often used as a decoy, he did make one big 25-yard catch to set up a game-tying field goal early in the fourth quarter.

It appeared as though the Titans had given the game away in the fourth quarter, as return man Eric Garror muffed a punt and quarterback Will Levis and running back Derrick Henry had a miscommunication on a toss play, resulting in two turnovers and two Dolphins touchdowns.

Tennessee was down by two touchdowns with less than three minutes remaining, but with Hill hobbled, the Miami offense could not put the game away, and the Titans scored two touchdowns in less than one minute to take a one-point lead.

The Dolphins had a chance to win the game with a field goal, but their final drive stalled out at around midfield when quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was sacked on a fourth-and-2 play.

Tagovailoa entered the game as an NFL MVP candidate, but he looked quite ordinary with Hill nursing an injury and multiple starters out along the offensive line.

Tua went 23-of-33 for 240 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. He was also sacked five times and lost a fumble.

With the loss, the Dolphins dropped one game behind the Baltimore Ravens in the race for the AFC’s No. 1 seed, and their lead over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East shrunk to two games.

Hill’s availability for the Dolphins’ next game against the New York Jets on Sunday is unclear, but with things tightening up in the division and conference, it would loom large if he is unable to play.

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