On Tuesday, we posted on some praise for Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa from new teammate Tyreek Hill. The story was based on a limited snippet tweeted at the time Hill said what he said.
The full comments from Hill have since become available. They paint a slightly different picture.
Before praising Tua for throwing one of the “prettiest balls” Hill has seen, Hill made it clear that he came to Miami with low expectations.
“At first, I thought it was going to be something crazy, the ball going all over the place,” Hill said, “but Tua actually has probably one of the prettiest balls I’ve ever caught in my life. It’s very catchable. I don’t want to continue because the more I talk, the more it sounds weird. Tua is a very accurate quarterback. That’s all I’m going to say.”
I thought it was going to be something crazy, the ball going all over the place.
He wasn’t asked why he thought that. It quickly became obvious that his praise for Tua is strategic. Hill is choosing to provide as much positive reinforcement as possible for his new quarterback.
“I just feel like football is all about confidence and I’m very confident in my quarterback,” Hill said. “So I just feel like if I’m able to help him get all the confidence in the world and push other guys to push that confidence into him, then the sky’s the limit for the guy because he’s a heck of a talent, has crazy arm strength, arm talent.”
It actually makes sense. And it’s clear that Hill is doing everything he can to prop up his new quarterback.
But consider this. During their four years together as starters in Kansas City, did Hill ever have to publicly prop up the confidence of Patrick Mahomes?