Tyreek Hill (Kind Of) Impressed With Patriots’ Christian Gonzalez

FOXBORO, Mass. — Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill might have left Gillette Stadium on Sunday with a victory, but he also departed with his lowest yardage output ever against the New England Patriots.

It was a relatively quiet night for Hill, who prior to bashing Patriots fans, didn’t have his normal impact in between the white lines. The 29-year-old scored a touchdown but was held to just five catches for 40 yards — which is a career low in yardage against New England.

The man responsible? Patriots rookie Christian Gonzalez.

Gonzalez drew the unenviable task of covering Hill throughout most of the night, as Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones left the contest early with a shoulder injury. That essentially forced New England to put its rookie on an island, with the results prompting some actually nice words from the seven-time Pro Bowler.

“He’s going to be a really good player in this league,” Hill said postgame.

It wouldn’t be like “Cheetah” to just drop some nice words and leave it at that, though. Hill decided to provide added context, somewhat taking away from Gonzalez’s credit.

“Those guys do a great job of paying their leverage,” Hill continued. “You know, defense is a team game. It’s not one man stopping one man, it’s a team game. He’s just very good at understanding coverage and understanding leverage. So, good for him.”

Hill wasn’t exactly slanderous toward Gonzalez, but certainly wasn’t heaping praise on him like others will be in the coming weeks.

The rookie has stepped up huge, after all, holding his own in assignments against Hill, Jaylen Waddle, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith in his first two weeks in the NFL. Shoot, he even got his first interception.

Whether he can remain up to the task remains to be seen, but one thing we know about Gonzalez is that he’s provided more than anyone ever could have imagined through the Patriots’ first two games.