Not long before kickoff, it remained unknown as to whether Tyreek Hill would play on Monday night.
By evening's end, Hill was back in the end zone and the Miami Dolphins were back in the win column, fending off the host Los Angeles Rams for a much-needed 23-15 victory.
"He's a warrior, a captain of this team, and you know, as good as it gets in this league that's full of star players," Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel told reporters of Hill, who was questionable to play in the game due to a wrist injury. "So you know, it didn't necessarily surprise his teammates (that he played) I don't think, based upon his relationship with them and what he means to the team. You don't know how a person's body's going to respond, but all things equal, Tyreek Hill wills himself to do things that most competitors can't match. It's one of the reasons that he's great.
Hill caught a 1-yard strike from Tua Tagovailoa that led to a 17-6 lead in the third quarter and was the final TD of the night with both squads exchanging field goals thereafter. Following the score, Hill and teammate Odell Beckham met in mid-air for a pro wrestling-themed celebration in which they appeared to connect on a double clothesline.
The play stopped a career-long seven-game streak without a touchdown for Hill, who was plenty pleased with the score, pumping his fist when asked about it by NFL Network's Taylor Bisciotti.
"It felt good, until Odell slammed my back out, man, you know?" Hill said, pointing to his neck twice. "That kind of hurt me, so I'll probably miss Wednesday practice with that one. But it's always good to score in the NFL, it's always been my dream to play at the biggest level, and here I am scoring on Monday night. So very grateful, very thankful for this opportunity."
Hill hadn't scored since the Dolphins' Week 1 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, going a career-long seven games without a score until Monday. This has hardly been the stereotypical season for Hill, who's up to just 37 receptions, 462 yards and two touchdowns through nine games. He had a rather paltry showing statistically Monday, tallying three catches for 16 yards to go with a pair of carries for 11 yards.
Still, his impact and availability for the team remains apparent.
"I mean any time you get somebody like that and of that caliber out, it's tough," Tagovailoa said. "It was tough. We found out literally last night whether he was going to play or not. So, it's kind of nerve-wracking, if you will, but he was able to play and that was cool."
NFL Network's Cameron Wolfe reported that Hill would be a go roughly 20 minutes to inactives being released. He didn't practice Friday or Saturday because of a wrist injury that he told Bisciotti has been troubling him all season.
"You know what, man, against the Commanders Week 1, and then I kinda re-aggravated it trying to block my tail off during the course of the year," Hill said when asked how he was injured. "But it happens, it's football, no excuses. There's a lot of guys in the NFL who are hurt, who are injured, it's part of my job description, and I love it man."
Miami, of course, hasn't played Washington this season and Hill clarified to reporters in the locker room that he was injured during a joint practice with the Commanders ahead of a preseason Week 2 game.
Perhaps it's part of the reason Hill's numbers aren't jumping out of the box score.
Nonetheless, he hasn't missed a game yet because of it and just how serious his celebratory neck ailment is remains to be seen. But the Dolphins are now 2-0 this season when Hill has scored touchdowns and 14-6 when he records a TD during his two-plus seasons in South Beach.
Maybe Monday was the beginning of a turnaround.
Hill broke his scoreless streak and the Dolphins, now 3-6 and seeded 10th in the AFC, ended their three-game skid, keeping hope of playoff rally alive.
"Don't count us out," Hill said. "This is only step one."
