“We got to turn the city up.” - Tyreek Hill and Tua Tagovailoa talk chemistry, expectations for the Miami Dolphins

New Miami Dolphins wide receiver, Tyreek Hill, has been causing quite a stir with his newly started podcast entitled, “It Needed to Be Said.” The first episode saw the All-Pro talent discuss the process that led to him leaving the Kansas City Chiefs, but the real headline-making comments came when he claimed that Tua Tagovailoa is a more accurate NFL quarterback than his former signal-caller, Patrick Mahomes. Plenty of people on Twitter and most of the national media had much to say about Hill’s opinion, but Hill doubled down by bringing his new QB, Tagovailoa, on the most recent episode of “It Needed to Be Said.”

Let’s take a look at what was discussed.

---

On wanting to leave the University of Alabama after his first day of conditioning:

“After [conditioning], I got on the phone and I told my dad, do you think USC still has an offer for me? I was ready to go. I’ve never experienced something like this with the amount of work.”

On Tua’s mindset after he was told he’d be starting the second half of the 2018 National Championship game:

“For me, I kind of had the mindset of, I’ve got nothing to lose. I’m just going to go in here and just do what I’ve been doing in practice. I just took all the plays that I had ran in practice with the first team and also with the second team, and I just tried to make my best.”

On Tua’s relationship with Mac Jones and Jalen Hurts:

“It was very competitive in that room. The thing I have is respect for both of those guys. Regardless of the competition that we all had with each other, everyone was actually willing to help. Me and Mac came in there at the same time. Jalen was already established as the guy... He had all these accolades, and he took the team, his first year, to the National Championship. For me and Mac coming in, he being able to take us under his wing, I thought that was cool. It was very competitive though. I think we all helped each other grow as players and that kind of helped the team out too... You fast forward to where all three of us are at with Jalen at the Eagles and Mac at the Patriots, that’s crazy.”

On Tagovailoa being drafted into the NFL:

“Everyone in the NFL is bigger, is faster, but one of the craziest things is that everyone on that field is smart. Whereas your preparation in college... You don’t do much preparing. The coaches help you prepare. The coaches get the gameplan ready for you and then you go out and play. And then you come to the NFL, and I can only speak for my position, I can’t speak for ‘Reek’s position, but day-in-and-day-out, how you gotta prepare, you gotta look at things as “day and night” in how you prepare for a game in college [as opposed to how you prepare in the NFL].”

On Tua’s reaction to the news that Tyreek Hill had been traded to Miami:

“I heard about it and I didn’t think it was real because I kind of already had the notion that, dude, this guy is set in KC. He has a good relationship with all the guys there. He’s been playing there for awhile already, so they all mesh well together. Then I get a call from the head coach. Then I get a call from my quarterbacks coach... I said, wait is this real? I was at home when I heard about that. This might be weird, but me being me, I’m not watching SportsCenter. I’m not watching TV. So when I found out we got this dude, I was like, oh my gosh, this is crazy. This is ridiculous.”

Tyreek Hill on what he and Tua need to do to create a winning culture in Miami:

“We got to turn the city up, man. We can’t only be about talk. We gotta continue what we’re doing. We gotta obviously follow coach’s lead and follow your lead. We just gotta let the naysayers do their talking, motivate us, and then we just play ball on Sundays, man... I believe in you and I know that everybody else believes in you, dawg. I’m saying that not only as your teammate, but I’m saying that as your brother. You are that deal, bro. And if you believe that you are that deal, the sky is the limit for you, big dog. I promise you that.”

On the chemistry between Tua and Tyreek:

Tua - “I don’t think it’s been good enough. I’ve been underthrowing him so many times that he’s got people talking about how I can’t throw the deep ball, man.”

*everyone laughs

Tyreek - “It’s all good, man. I just feel that our chemistry will get there. Look, it’s going to be about 2 a.m. one night and you’re gonna wake up and walk in your kitchen and I’m going to be washing your dishes. That’s how good our chemistry is going to be, dawg.”

On Tyreek’s addition to Miami’s WR room:

“Being able to see him practice with our guys, although he’s an established receiver, he doesn’t make it seem as if he’s an established player. He’s always willing to learn. There’s guys that have been only two years into the NFL on our team that are talking to him through routes what their thoughts are on routes and he’s out there like, okay coach me up. Why do you see that being run this way? That kind of tells you about who he is as well. There’s no ego. I think that sets the standard for the receiver room entirely. That’s something that you can admire.”

On Dan Marino’s impact on Tua Tagovailoa:

Tua - “Having a guy like that... that guy is wearing a gold jacket, a Hall of Famer in your room. Dan came in when I first got to Miami in the building and I was like, dang that was just Dan Marino that walked into our room. Dan was like, I’ll be back. I’m looking at Fitz and I’m like, dude, is that normal? And he was like, yeah, he’ll be in most of our meetings. For the most part, Dan just comes and hangs and shares knowledge when he wants to. And I’m like, dang! So, I’m sitting in here with a 15 year vet in Ryan Fitzpatrick and then you have a Hall of Famer in Dan Marino in there. It was crazy. You don’t want to show the emotions of, dude, this is Dan Marino in the room with us. You don’t want to do that. You want to be a professional. So, it was surreal for me when Dan started calling my name. Tua came out of Dan’s mouth? Dan Marino? Dude, I wasn’t even born when this guy was doing what he was doing. So, that’s crazy. Dan is still the same way. He’s still in our room. He’s still implementing little nuggets here and there. But, one of Dan’s biggest things is pick a guy and let it fly. That’s his favorite saying.”

Tyreek - “I just hope you pick number 10.”

For more on Tyreek Hill’s interview of Tua Tagovailoa, check out the It Needed to Be Said podcast on your favorite audio platform or on YouTube.

All quotes were transcribed by Marek Brave (@MBrave13). If used in any other articles or publications, please credit accordingly.