Tyreek Hill Injury: The Receiver's Ankle Complicates Miami's Tricky Run-In

On paper, the Miami Dolphins are in a pretty comfortable position. The AFC East club is sitting firmly in playoff position, thanks to their 9-4 record. But as you drill further down into the standings, there's still quite a lot to play for.

While postseason clarification is a safe bet, the Dolphins still have to fight for their place in the standings. At this point, a first-round bye and home-field advantage are still on the table. By that same token, though, a couple of losses could make the road to the Lombardi Trophy that much more treacherous.

Things were further complicated by Miami's Monday night loss to the underdog Tennessee Titans. But while that result may steal the headlines, there's another potential problem that emerged: a Tyreek Hill injury.

And while the Dolphins are theoretically well-positioned to cope with that challenge, the receiver's bad ankle will make the homestretch that much more complex.

Hill Suffered an Ankle Injury on Monday Night

While he's an incredible overall athlete, Hill's superpower is his speed. As his "Cheetah" nickname suggests, the receiver is capable of darting past defenders and finding the end zone in the blink of an eye.

Moving forward, though, he may be a bit less mobile.

During Miami's loss to Tennessee, Hill hurt his ankle during the first quarter. He later returned to the contest after receiving a text from his wife.

"When it happened, like my first reaction was like, man, my ankle is gone," he said. "My adrenaline kicked in, I ran off the field, then I sat for a while and it got stiff and I was going through a lot of pain. Then I just made up in my mind, I came in at halftime, I texted my wife, I was like, 'This s*** hurt.' I need an ankle massage tonight, and she's like, 'You'd better get your a** back in that game, dawg.' I was like, 'All right.'"

Despite that return and his final stat line (four catches for 61 yards), Hill acknowledged that he wasn't at his best.

"No, I could not," the receiver said when asked if he could cut and change directions normally. "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. 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. My mindset is like I'm going to go in, I'm going to dominate no matter how I feel. If I get locked up, it happens. If I drop a pass, it happens. But just know I'm out there. I'm going. That's my mindset."

At this point, it's not clear the extent of his injury, but it goes without saying that the Dolphins will want their star receiver at full health as the must-win games arrive.

Letting Hill Recover Could Be Tricky

Given how quickly Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence bounced back from his ankle injury, it's possible that Hill won't miss a beat. But given his importance to the Miami offense and how central speed is to his game, the team might want to be a bit cautious with the star.

But, in this case, there's a catch.

Remember how we started by talking about the standings? Well, as of Tuesday, December 12, the Dolphins are the second seed in the AFC, trailing the Ravens by a game. Those two teams will meet in Week 17, though, setting up a potential showdown for all of the marbles. Assuming results hold in other games, that meeting would determine who earns the first-round bye.

Given that the Dolphins are already behind, that game is a must-win for Miami; losing would leave them another game behind in the standings and give Baltimore the tiebreaker.

So, that means the priority is getting Hill to 100 percent by that game, right? Yes, but the Dolphins are also walking a tightrope.

Since they're already a game back, the AFC East club can't afford to lose any more ground. If resting Hill means the Dolphins lose to the Jets (or, more realistically, the Dallas Cowboys in Week 16), then beating Baltimore becomes largely irrelevant.

And while the Ravens do have a difficult schedule down the stretch (the Jaguars, the 49ers, the Dolphins and the Steelers), they're currently in pole position. Even if Lamar Jackson and company lost to the Jaguars and 49ers, winning the latter two contests would place them at 12-5. Thanks to the tiebreaker (from beating Miami), that would give them the edge in the end-of-season standings.

Are those results guaranteed? Of course not; maybe the Ravens will melt down and go 0-4 down the stretch. But the Dolphins can't afford to bank on something like that.

That leaves the team in a situation where there has to be some element of risk. Do you let Hill play and risk a larger problem—he noted that he's been dealing with ankle injuries all season—in an effort to chase the number one seed? Or do you risk losing that race and facing a tougher playoff path in order to ensure that Hill is at his best?

That's the situation Mike McDaniel and the rest of the Dolphins organization will be reckoning with in the coming days.