MIAMI GARDENS — Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who has 1,014 yards receiving, an NFL record for the Super Bowl era through eight games and is on pace for his personal goal of a record 2,000-yard season, said he’s excited to face his former team, Kansas City, this Sunday in Germany.
“I have never been to Germany,” Hill said after Sunday’s 31-17 victory over New England. “I’m looking forward to it.
“Obviously we’re playing against the Chiefs, so it’s going to be a fun game to see some old faces, and yeah, just get after it, talk trash to my old quarterback (Patrick Mahomes).”
The Dolphins’ charter flight is schedule to arrive in Germany early Tuesday morning (German time).
Hill, one of the most fun players to interview on the team, said this is “just another game,” but it seems as though he’s a bit more excited for this one. Regardless, he said he’ll do what he always does.
“At the end of the day, my job is to go out there and do what I’ve been doing all year,” he said, “and that’s have fun, help lead this team, and create opportunities for whoever.
“I’m still going to be the same old Cheetah, baby.”
Coach Mike McDaniel said he’s not worried about Hill making too much of the Chiefs (6-2) game.
“I think it will be a bigger deal for his teammates in support of him,” McDaniel said. “In actuality, I mean he’s as Miami as it comes now. He’s on a new chapter and worried about being a captain for this team.”
Hill was traded to Miami (6-2) in March 2022, partly because the Chiefs could no longer afford the four-time first team All Pro and seven-time Pro Bowl selection along with their other high-priced players.
Hill had a career-best 1,710 yards receiving last year, the sixth time he’s surpassed 1,000 yards in his eight NFL seasons, to go along with seven touchdowns.
This season Hill could surpass his career bests in receiving yards, receptions (he had a career-best 119 last year and has 61 this season) and targets (he had a career-best 170 last year and has 87 this season), marks he established last season.
By the way, Sunday’s game is technically a Chiefs home game that was moved to Germany. Hill said he wanted to play at Arrowhead Stadium, the Chiefs’ home.
“I was kind of pissed about it, man, because obviously I’ve got so many friends, I’ve got family there,” he said of the game being moved. “One of my sons is there. Just the energy, man, feeling that energy in Arrowhead would have been next level, but obviously I understand that the NFL, they want to be more global and they want to send two of the best offenses over there, two MVP quarterbacks, dynamic offenses, and it’s going to be a good game. It’s really good promotion for them.
“But going back to Arrowhead, it would have been sensational.”
Be like Mike
McDaniel seemed stunned to hear kids are dressing up as him for Halloween. Check the internet. They’re there.
McDaniel isn’t sure what to think.
“That does not compute,” he said Monday. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
Told that one kid online dressed as him and then pretended to sprint away from a halftime interview such as McDaniel did during the New England game on Sept. 17, McDaniel replied, “Was I faster than the kid?”
Asked what are the essentials of dressing as Mike McDaniel for Halloween, the usually talkative coach, who wears fashionable eyeglasses, watches and sneakers, was at a loss for words.
McD was informed it’s trendy for kids dress as him for Halloween. And he doesn’t know how to respond pic.twitter.com/TpXyWnXycS
— Chris Perkins (@chrisperk) October 30, 2023
“I have no idea,” he said. “I refuse to accept that as reality. I don’t even know what that means. I guess that there’s a compliment in there to the Miami Dolphins organization and locker room because there’s got to be some really, really, really good players for someone to dress up like me.”
The thinly-built McDaniel, addressing the basics of looking like Mike McDaniel, later added, “Probably the essential would be the broad chest, right?”
Team bonding, German style
Dolphins players won’t be roaming the streets of Frankfurt, Germany by themselves. Well, they shouldn’t be doing that. It’s not safe, and it’s not symbolic of team bonding, which is one of numerous things McDaniel seeks from this trip.
“Part of being an NFL player and part of being a teammate is understanding that you carry all the obligations that are required of people,” he said. “You carry the logo and how you act and what you do affects everyone. And then I haven’t really gone into dark and desolate scenarios.
“I’ve more been emphasizing the opportunity for us to do things as groups and experience and be together and not be off as individuals, but to take advantage of the time as a collective. Strength in numbers.”
Cornerback Kader Kohou doesn’t seem worried.
“The security people told us not to leave the hotel by ourselves, so you’re always going to be with somebody so it’s going to be great team bonding,” he said. “But I feel like every away game we’ve had we’ve always done dinner so I don’t think it’s going to be any different.”
Dolphins sign Nickerson to practice squad
The Dolphins announced they’ve signed cornerback Parry Nickerson to the practice squad and released cornerback Mark Milton from the practice squad.
Nickerson, a sixth-round pick by the New York Jets out of Tulane in 2018, played five games for the Dolphins this season, and had a role in the nickel package for a brief stretch. Nickerson started the season with Miami but was released Sunday.
