Nobody was surprised when Tyreek Hill wasn’t announced as one of the Miami Dolphins’ captains for the 2025 season Monday.
Hill’s antics at the end of last season left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth, and Hill even admitted he didn’t deserve to be a captain anymore in an interview earlier this offseason. However, the Dolphins still need the star receiver to buy in this season.
And if you’re willing to take coach Mike McDaniel’s assessment at face value, it seems like Hill is doing what he can.
“What can be said about any of our leaders and how they’re communicating expectations, and then how people are more invested toward each other,” McDaniel said during his press conference Wednesday. “You can exemplify that by Tyreek Hill’s ownership of his job and his commitment to his teammates.
“So, as we kind of forecasted, that extra investment helps guys be a little more connected, specifically the way they need to be. So, yeah, there’s been a lot of growth across the board.”
Hill seemingly is showing that commitment while working back from an oblique injury he suffered during training camp. He’s been working in different practice periods since the team is trying to make sure he’s prepared and healthy for Week 1 against the Colts.
One of the more played-out storylines from Miami’s preseason was Hill’s relationship with Tua Tagovailoa.
The Dolphins’ quarterback gave a pretty candid response about the strain Hill’s comments from the end of last season put on the receiver’s relationships with everyone on the team. McDaniel believes he’s seen growth from Hill and throughout the Dolphins’ locker room.
“The standard is that you focus on that day and practice means something different to our guys now,” McDaniel said. “I think it’s more meaningful. There’s a closer intensity to that of a game, which is the whole point. And I think there, there’s been growth from Tyreek and Tua to you know, our center with a rookie guard or a new person on our team, or you can talk to [Tyrel Dodson], and Jordan Brooks.
“There’s a lot of connectivity in that in a team sport where 11 people are in charge of one result, it’s super important that they’re connected. And all the things that they’ve done, I think, have been positive.”
McDaniel’s reference to a renewed standard likely is related to his comments at the end of the season about several players repeatedly getting fined for tardiness and about the general perception that the team has a bad culture.
Hill has become the poster child for that, but every player or coach who’s been asked about Hill this offseason has commented on his renewed commitment to the team.
McDaniel went on to mention that Hill has stayed engaged with the offense and Tua while he’s been rehabbing his oblique injury, noting that Tua set the standard for what injury preparation can look like when he returned from his concussion against the Cardinals and Bills last season.
Obviously, all of this sounds good. Tyreek needed to recommit to the team this offseason, and it seems like the team’s new captains are taking accountability more seriously than last year’s group.
Will this version of Hill and his relationship with Tua hold up for the entire 2025 season? It’ll be impossible to know until the team meets some adversity. For now, Hill seems to be on the right track.
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