Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes ‘Surprised’ by Tyreek Hill’s Podcast Comments

One of the most prolific duos in the NFL was broken up early in the NFL offseason when the Kansas City Chiefs traded wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins in March for multiple draft picks. 

Upon completion of the trade, Hill signed a four-year, $120 million extension to become the face of the Dolphins franchise. 

It ended the Patrick Mahomes-to-Hill connection which terrorized NFL defenses over the past four seasons. Since the 2018 season, when Mahomes became the starting quarterback in Kansas City, Hill caught 343 balls for 4,854 yards and 43 touchdowns. In his last season in Kansas City, Hill was targeted 159 times, hauling in 111 passes for 1,239 yards and 9 touchdowns.

Not bad, but apparently not enough. 

TYREEK HILL DISHES DIRT ON WHAT WENT WRONG IN KANSAS CITY

On Hill’s new podcast “It Needed To Be Said,” Hill and agent Drew Rosenhaus discussed how Hill was “underutilized” in the 2021 Chiefs offense. 

“If teams are gonna give us favorable one-on-one matches against their best corner, I don’t see why teams don’t utilize their best receiver,” Hill said, according to NBC Sports. “And that’s where probably like me and the Chiefs fell apart right there. When I’m like, yo, I don’t mean to talk or be a diva in some situation but can I see the pill some time, please? Just give me the ball, please.”

On Thursday, Mahomes had a chance to respond to his former teammates comments, and told reporters that he was caught off guard. 

"I'm surprised a little just because I feel like we love Tyreek here," Mahomes said, via ESPN. "We've always loved him. We still love him. I saw him out at Formula One in Miami. I'm sure it had something to do with trying to get his podcast some stuff and get it rolling.

"I still love Tyreek. He's a one-of-a-kind player. In coach Reid's offense it takes the whole team. This offense was rolling before I got here. This offense was rolling when I was a young Cowboys fan watching the Eagles beat up on the Cowboys. It's an offense that's more than one player, and that includes myself."

Mahomes said he hadn’t had a conversation with Hill since the release of the podcast last Friday.

“I haven’t talked to him since the podcast came out,” Mahomes continued. “But I talked to him at Formula One in Miami in May and everything seemed fine. It’s something where I'm sure he’s trying to show that he loves where he's at in Miami, he loves his teammates.” 

Mahomes did go on to tell reporters that he was aware that Hill was looking for more touches during the 2021 season, but that it wasn’t an issue during the season. 

“We were winning football games, especially at the end of the season, so I don’t think he really brought that to our attention,” Mahomes said on Thursday. “Now we just kind of move on, keep going with the guys we have here, and keep trying to win football games.”