Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa’s public admission about 2023 Tyreek Hill game plan

It seems like Tua Tagovailoa is intent on making verbal and on-field news this year. The latest evidence came when the Miami Dolphins made a public admission about the 2023 game plan for Tyreek Hill.

And for those who played fantasy football against a team that had Hill, this may be old news. It sounds similar to the way Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp seemed to play with the Rams in 2021. Tagovailoa said the Dolphins tried to pad Hill’s stats, according to The Dan Le Batard Show.

“Last year, we were, in a way, really trying to help Tyreek get to that 2,000-yard mark,” said Tua Tagovailoa. “It wasn’t like we were trying to hide that. It was pretty obvious. Trying to feed him the ball and whatnot.”

Of course they did. Because that’s what the NFL is all about, finding ways to break records. Right?

Was WR Tyreek Hill’s 2,000-yard chase manipulated?

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It seems like that’s exactly what Tagovailoa said. How many times did Hill — who finished the year with 1,799 yards — get the ball at the expense of a better gain to other Dolphins players?

Whoa, wait a minute. Throwing to Hill as many times as possible isn’t a bad idea, is it? Mostly, no. But if another talented play like Jaylen Waddle ever broke open 20 yards down the field while Tagovailoa chuck-checked it to Hill for a 15-yard gain, that’s a problem.

So what’s five yards worth? Really? Ask the Tennessee Titans and wide receiver Kevin Dyson how they feel about five yards.

And here’s the worst part. It’s not Tua, nor Tyreek. It’s Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel. What kind of NFL head coach signs off on this? Truth be known, most NFL coaches worth their salt would go the opposite direction. They would refuse to feed a player all season for fear of injury. Also, it’s a team game. Right?

What about the playoffs?

How did this work out in the postseason against Hill’s former team? Hill had five catches for 62 yards and a touchdown in a 26-7 Dolphins loss to the Chiefs. Did Tagovailoa decide the playoffs weren’t the right place to do what the team did all season?

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What did McDaniel say about it? Of course, he seemed to blame Hill. At least according to Hill’s version on the “Million Dollaz Worth of Game” podcast via foxnews.com. Hill said McDaniel read him the riot act after Hill got knocked to the ground by L’Jarius Sneed.

“The play against Sneed,” Hill said. “The Chiefs, everybody see this play against the Chiefs. He called me out. He like, ‘Reek, bro, you’re supposed to be the (expletive) best player in the (expletive) league, and you got this guy putting hands all over you like that. We pay you all this money for what?’

“And for me, I love (expletive) like that. I’m gonna take that (expletive) to heart, and I’m gonna get better from it. That’ll never happen again to me in my life, man. You feel me?”

But the question at hand right now is: Will the Dolphins play “stat ball” in 2024? Or will they focus on trying to win the Super Bowl?