Tyreek Hill's actions and words don't match when it comes to Tua Tagovailoa

No one would expect vibes to be high around the Miami Dolphins after Week 1. Losing is one thing, but getting your doors blown off by Daniel Jones is another thing entirely. During the eventual 33-8 loss to Indianapolis, star wide receiver Tyreek Hill might've summed up the frustrations of the fan base and team best with an explosive emotional display on the sideline. He also might've simply shown that he's continuing to grow a bit tired of his quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa.

Hill, however, wouldn't go as far as to publicly and verbally throw his quarterback with the Dolphins under the bus. On Friday, the wide receiver was clearly led into the opportunity to do so when he was asked about not having caught a 30-yard or more pass in a full calendar year now, with the inquiring reporter even straight-up asking if the issue was on the throws and the quarterback.

Miami's mercurial speedster sarcastically laughed at the question, asking if the reporter was "trying to piss him off". He then seemed to strong-arm the question largely, saying that it would figure itself out, but not even coming remotely close to taking any shots at Tagovailoa.

At the same time, though, we're getting to a point where Hill's actions and words when it comes to Tua and the current offensive situation with the Dolphins aren't aligning anymore.

Tyreek Hill seems more frustrated with Dolphins, Tua than he's willing to say

One look at everything that Hill has done over the offseason, preseason and now in Week 1 paints a different picture than the latest comments wherein he wouldn't throw his quarterback under the bus. Starting with the tantrum alone, we don't have the audio to entirely know what he said, but given that the Dolphins offense scored just eight points in the loss to the Colts, it stands to reason his frustrations stemmed from some combination of Tagovailoa and head coach Mike McDaniel.

Beyond just the sideline antics, though, let's rewind to the offseason, where there's clearly more evidence on the side of the argument that Hill is frustrated with his signal-caller and situation. After all, how many times can one player hint at a trade before we start to take him somewhat seriously?

Hill routinely teased the idea of being done in Miami throughout the offseason, never in the same way, but all pointing to him no longer being a member of the Dolphins. Obviously, none of that ever came to fruition, and perhaps some of the reason behind it was because the receiver has never shied from stirring the pot. However, in the entire context of this team right now, there may have been a kernel of truth in those allusions to a trade — maybe he really doesn't want to be part of this anymore.

Tyreek Hill and Tua Tagovailoa aren't a wartime marriage in an NFL offense

The issues with Tua, particularly as it relates to Hill as one of the elite deep threats in the league, have been widely noted and growing as the years go on in Miami. Just last season, he finished just 24th in the NFL in completed passes of 20 or more yards with only 29 in 11 games. For context, the notoriously now Mr. Limited, Russell Wilson, had 40 such completions in as many games.

What makes that even crazier, though, is the personnel around him. This is a Dolphins offense featuring Hill and Jaylen Waddle, two of the fastest pass-catchers in the league. Even in McDaniel's offense, it's simply not viable to not be able to utilize one of the greatest weapons available to the team on that side of the ball.

But part of that at least appears to be due to Tagovailoa's injury history. It's almost surely not a coincidence that his head injuries and the long-term concerns about the possibility of him suffering another one have affected Miami's offense. He's getting the ball out quicker to avoid contact, and also moving around or outside of the pocket less for the same reason. That ultimately leads to fewer deep shots down the field to someone like Hill.

All this is to say, Hill isn't being used to his peak effectiveness. Meanwhile, Tua is shouldering the bulk of the blame for the shortcomings of this offense. So when the Dolphins are now also a weaker roster on both sides of the ball than they have been recently, that's a combustable situation — and it's starting to look like the fuse has been lit already, even if Hill hasn't outwardly said as much yet.

Will Tyreek Hill be traded?

Everything transpiring with the Dolphins leads to the question of if this means that the Dolphins will eventually trade Hill this season. For me, though, it seems like that's the likelier outcome than not given where we're at.

Hill is showing enough professionalism to not be publicly critical of his quarterback after a tough loss, but the question about his lack of deep receptions "pissed him off", and it's not a leap to say that's possibly because he doesn't feel like it has anything to do with his current physical ability to make those plays.

More importantly, though, I don't see this season getting better for the Dolphins. Let me be clear, that's not all on the offense. It feels entirely probable that Miami will have a hot-and-cold season on that side of the ball, simply because they have too much talent not to be flashing at times. However, that won't be enough to overcome the defense, which has fallen off a cliff to the point where they're getting carved up by Danny frickin' Dimes.

So where does that end up? Most likely, it ends with Tyreek Hill on a team other than the Dolphins before the NFL trade deadline. This situation and marriage has clearly run its course, and Miami is going to reach a point sooner than later where holding this core together is no longer as valuable as getting back draft capital.

Perhaps the only real question, at least from where I'm sitting, is how soon that moment comes for Hill and the Dolphins. It's certainly bubbling already, though.