Over the last couple of months, Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill has become a kind of hype man for his new quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
At every turn, Hill has talked up Tagovailoa’s accuracy, most recently calling him “the most accurate quarterback in the NFL” during an appearance on ESPN’s First Take.
Tagovailoa was twice asked about Hill’s comments in his Wednesday press conference at training camp. His first answer was relatively simple.
“It’s cool,” Tagovailoa said. “Tyreek is someone that has well established himself in this league and to have the support from him means a lot. I’m glad to have him as my teammate.”
When reporters circled back to Hill later in the session, Tagovailoa said Hill’s comments are just a part of the receiver’s personality.
“Tyreek’s going to speak how he feels at that very moment,” Tagovailoa said. “And he just believes what he says every time. If he feels he’s the best at this, he’s going to let you know. Out there on the field, if he feels someone’s talking too much and he wants to go against them, he’s going to let them know what he’s going to do to them. That’s just his personality. I think it’s fun to have that kind of personality on the team. But for me, again, it’s awesome to have that kind of support from somebody like that.”
This is a critical season for Tagovailoa, as the Dolphins have done plenty over the offseason to put him in a position to be successful — including trading for Hill. But Tagovailoa says he doesn’t feel any undue pressure.
“I would say, I never put pressure on myself, but it comes with the position,” Tagovailoa said. “Pressure’s always there playing this position. And playing in the NFL. I think for any professional athlete, anyone can attest that it’s un-added pressure — we put pressure on ourselves every day to be the best, to do things the right way, and to try to do things the right way consistently.”
Still, whether Tagovailoa can live up to the considerable hype from Hill remains to be seen.
