Dolphins' Tyreek Hill says wife told him to get back in the game despite painful ankle injury
Hill finished the game with four catches for 61 yards
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Miami Dolphins star Tyreek Hill has only been married for about a month, but he’s quickly realizing the old mantra – happy wife, happy life. Even if it means playing through a brutal ankle injury.
Hill was injured in the first quarter when he landed awkwardly on his ankle while being tackled. He returned in the third quarter but failed to stay consistently in the contest as the Dolphins fell to the Tennessee Titans 28-27.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill is congratulated by guard Lester Cotton after making a catch during the Tennessee Titans game, Monday, Dec. 11, 2023, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
He told reporters after the game he was in a ton of pain and texted his wife, Keeta Vaccaro, about the injury and she told him to get his butt back in the game and play through it.
"It was a lot of pain, man. It sucked," Hill said. "When it actually happened, I’ve obviously been dealing with some ankle injuries this whole season, and 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.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Then I just made up in my mind, I came in at halftime, I texted my wife, I was like, ‘This s--- hurt.’ I need an ankle massage tonight, and she’s like, ‘You’d better get you’re a-- 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."
Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill speaks during a post-game news conference, Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Hill said he was trying to "bring some energy and be that spark" to help lift the Dolphins to a win. He said he wasn’t able to cut on a dime like he’s used to.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I feel like at this point of the season, everybody is typically hurt, and right now I don’t need – nobody is going to give you pity for just being injured, quite frankly," he said. "That’s just the reality of this league. My mindset is like I’m going to go in, I’m going to dominate no matter how I feel. If I get locked up, it happens. If I drop a pass, it happens. But just know I’m out there. I’m going. That’s my mindset."
Hill is having an MVP-caliber season and is in pursuit of 2,000 receiving yards for a season.
Tyreek Hill of the Dolphins reacts on the sidelines during the Tennessee Titans game at Hard Rock Stadium on Dec. 11, 2023, in Miami. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He had four catches for 61 yards in the game. On the season, he has 97 catches for 1,542 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns.
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