KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Miami Dolphins star wide receiver Tyreek Hill will be in his old stomping grounds on Saturday: Arrowhead Stadium.
The former Kansas City Chiefs star and his new team come into Arrowhead as the 6-seed in a Wild Card matchup to the 3-seed Chiefs in a rematch of their Week 9 Germany game.
Hill always garners a lot of attention because of his elite play, and the NFL leader in receiving yards will always get special attention from his former team.
Hill has been limited in practice with an ankle/quad injury, but his own team and KC anticipate him being ready to go Saturday.
“He’s always ready to play, so he’ll be fired up I’m sure,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said. “Our fans – it doesn’t matter who comes in – I mean, our fans, they’re crazy every week. So it’s going to be electric no matter who’s out there. I know Tyreek will be fired up. He’s like our fans, he’s always fired up.”
“We’re competitors,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “You’ve seen me with guys like (Las Vegas Raiders defensive end) Maxx Crosby, you see me. I have that fire, that competitive fire on the football field. He’s the same way. That’s what makes him so great.
“We’re still friends in the offseason and everything like that, but when you play on the field, you’re trying to compete to win. That’s just how it is. I’m excited for the opportunity for our defense. I’m excited for the opportunity for our team to go against a great football team.”
Chiefs players like Mahomes and defensive tackle Chris Jones have fond memories of Hill in his days as a Chief.
In six seasons, Hill caught 479 passes for 6,630 yards and 56 touchdowns while helping the Chiefs appear in back-to-back Super Bowls with a Super Bowl ring.
“Tyreek is a well-respected player, not only around the league but essentially in this building,” Jones said. “What he was able to do with his tenure here, how successful we were with Tyreek here scoring a lot of points, him becoming into himself as the Cheetah.
“We came in together in our draft class. It was a remarkable time and a lot of points were scored, a lot of sacks was made. It was fun.”
Receiver Mecole Hardman said he talked to Hill this week but only to check on him since Hill’s house caught fire about a week ago.
The top-tier Chiefs defense held Hill to eight catches and 62 yards in Germany and held the top-tier Dolphins offense to 292 yards with 193 coming through the air from Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa.
The Dolphins use pre-snap motion the most in the NFL by a large percentage as of December and use their speedsters like Hill, receiver Jaylen Waddle and running backs Raheem Mostert and De’Von Achane to get them the ball in space.