MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Tyreek Hill stood on the Miami Dolphins sidelines with a towel draped around his neck and no helmet in sight.
Beside Hill stood Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, calling an offense without his sharpest weapon.
For a moment, the Dolphins’ aspirations to reach the Super Bowl this season hung in the breezy Miami air on Monday night.
And for certain, Miami’s chance to clinch the No. 1 seed in the AFC took a major hit as the Dolphins fell 28-27 to the Tennessee Titans at Hard Rock Stadium.
‘It was just one of them things where like you just got to make your mind up, like ‘hey, I’m going to do it, man.’ One of them (expletive) them mindsets. You feel me? And it’s going to be like that until the end of the season,’ said Hill, who suffered a left ankle injury during the first quarter, and did not return until midway through the third quarter.
NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.
‘I feel like at this point of the season, everybody is typically hurt, and right now I don’t need – nobody is going to give you pity for just being injured, quite frankly. That’s just the reality of this league.’
In a matter of two plays, the Dolphins star receiver showed why his candidacy for NFL most valuable player truly has some merit.
Hill secured a 23-yard catch from Tua Tagovailoa at the end of the third quarter, and a 25-yard catch down to the 6-yard line early in the fourth quarter on a drive the Dolphins used to tie the game at 13. But Hill was no longer a factor in the game for the Dolphins.
Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter after Miami secured a muff punt, and Bradley Chubb recovered a fumble. And it didn’t matter.
The Titans had more offense than the Dolphins did on this night.
Titans quarterback Will Levis lead two touchdown drives — a pass to DeAndre Hopkins, and a run by Derrick Henry — down 23-17 in the fourth quarter, and stole the victory from Miami.
Without Hill at his best, the Dolphins offense lacked explosiveness that became its defining trait this season. Hill leads the NFL with nearly 1,500 yards and 12 touchdowns — garnering conversation for the league’s Most Valuable Player award, with hopes to produce the NFL’s first 2,000-yard receiving season.
Hill caught a pass in the backfield from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and ran toward the Titans sidelines where cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting brought him down.
Hill was writhing in pain on the Titans sideline and tended to by trainers with about three minutes left in the first quarter.
Hill got up and began to walk toward midfield, before Dolphins fans at Hard Rock Stadium began to chant his name.
Hill responded by running off the field to the Dolphins sideline, screaming toward himself as fans cheered. Hill briefly sought treatment in the Dolphins medical tent, but quickly exited.
But it took until 6:43 left in the third quarter for Hill to return to action.
‘Me being me, I don’t want to sit out. I want to be able to help this team any way I can, and that’s just who I am. I just don’t want to miss any games,’ Hill said.
Despite his two highlight plays, the Dolphins started their final two drives of the game without Hill on the field. While Hill did join the fray in Miami’s attempt to salvage the game, he was not targeted.
And the Dolphins ended the night, spoiled by a defeat that took significant air out of their season.