At the end of a frustrating 2024-25 season for the Miami Dolphins, star wide receiver Tyreek Hill suggested his time with the team was over, saying, “I’m out.” Those two words have rattled around Miami all offseason, and with the start of training camp, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa said he and Hill are working to rebuild their relationship.
“I would say we’re still continuing to [rebuild the relationship],” Tagovailoa said to reporters at camp on Wednesday. “But it’s not just with me, it’s with a lot of the guys. I’m not the only one that heard that. You guys aren’t the only people that heard that. A lot of people that follow football, that follow the Miami Dolphins, that follow Tyreek and are fans of his, everyone has seen that.
“When you say something like that, you don’t just come back from that with, ‘Hey, my bad.’ You’ve got to work that relationship up. You’ve got to build everything up again. It’s still a work in progress, not just for me but for everybody. But like I said, he’s working on himself, he’s working on the things he says he wants to get better with and do better on. So that’s the first step to me, so I commend him for doing that.”
Hill’s comments came after the Dolphins lost to the New York Jets 32-20 in Week 18, bringing an end to a disappointing 8-9 campaign. The season, which began with lofty expectations, was impacted by many things, though none more than Tagovailoa suffering injuries that caused him to miss at least part of six games.
After the loss to the Jets, Hill added to his “I’m out” comments, saying, “It was great playing here, but at the end of the day, I got to do what’s best for my career. I’m too much of a competitor to be just out there.”
On Wednesday, linebacker Jordyn Brooks said that he believes the loss of trust is an “outside” narrative, separate from how Hill’s teammates feel, saying, “I don’t think any trust was lost.”
Hill spoke to reporters on Tuesday as veterans reported to training camp and explained that he has attempted to shift his focus after missing the playoffs for the first time in his career.
“This whole offseason, I’ve been busting my tail,” Hill said. “I told my dad I want to see what it looks like when I just focus on football, on myself and family … I feel like I haven’t been giving the best version of Tyreek my whole entire career.
“I’ve always been trying to be here and be there, but me being able to slow down a little bit, train and bust my tail for myself and then also for this community and this team, I feel like it’ll be worth it.”