For Tyreek Hill and the Miami Dolphins, this week is about balancing personal issues with the demands of professional football.
Hill has been at the center of a national discussion about police use of force after he was pulled from his sports car by Miami-Dade County police officers, pushed face-first onto the street, and handcuffed during a traffic stop near the Dolphins’ home stadium.
The incident occurred just hours before the Dolphins started their season, but Hill later went out and caught an 80-yard touchdown, helping the Dolphins come from behind to beat Jacksonville. He celebrated the touchdown by mimicking being handcuffed.
Hill and the Dolphins now need to come together again to face the Buffalo Bills, who have won 13 of their last 15 games against them.
Hill said he will use Thursday night’s AFC East rivalry game as a way to cope with the “shell-shocking” events he experienced.
“(Football) is how I get away from a lot of stuff,” he said. “This is how I separate myself from past traumas in my life. I’m not gonna mix the two.”
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa acknowledged the significance of the game while emphasizing the need to keep things in perspective.
“I think when we start to brush that away and think that this football thing is the most important thing to us when — this isn’t just something that Tyreek had gone through, this is something that people in general go through. That’s a life thing,” Tagovailoa said.
The Bills have had a strong record against the Dolphins in recent years. Buffalo has averaged 31.7 points against Miami since coach Sean McDermott’s first season in 2017.
Quarterback Josh Allen has been named AFC Player of the Week five times after games against the Dolphins. He has a 11-2 record against Miami and has thrown 41 touchdowns.
