Hill had not scored since the Dolphins’ Week 1 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars and went seven games without a goal through Monday. This certainly hasn’t been the stereotypical season for Hill, who has managed just 37 receptions, 462 yards and two touchdowns through nine games. Statistically, he had a rather poor performance on Monday, with three catches for 16 yards to go with a pair of carries for 11 yards.

Still, his impact and availability for the team remains clear.

“I mean, any time you take out someone like that and of that caliber, it’s tough,” Tagovailoa said. “It was tough. We literally found out last night if he was going to play or not. So it’s a little nerve-wracking, if you will, but he was able to play and that was cool.”

NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe reported that Hill would take about 20 minutes to release inactives. He did not practice on Friday and Saturday due to a wrist injury that he said has been bothering him all season.

“You know what, man, against the Commanders Week 1, and then I kind of aggravated it a little bit trying to lock down my tail over the course of the year,” Hill said when asked how he got hurt. “But it happens, it’s football, there are no excuses. There’s a lot of guys in the NFL that are hurt, that are injured, it’s part of my job description, and I love it man.”

Miami, of course, has not played Washington this season, and Hill made it clear to reporters in the locker room that he was injured during a joint practice with the Commanders prior to a Week 2 preseason game.

Maybe it’s part of the reason why Hill’s numbers don’t jump out of the box.

Nevertheless, he has yet to miss a match as a result and the severity of his festive neck problem remains to be seen. But the Dolphins are now 2-0 this season when Hill has scored touchdowns and 14-6 when recording a TD during his two-plus seasons in South Beach.

Maybe Monday was the start of a turnaround.

Hill snapped his winless streak and the Dolphins, now 3–6 and seeded 10th in the AFC, ended their three-game skid, keeping alive hopes of a playoff rally.

“Don’t count us out,” Hill said. “This is only step one.”