Dolphins GM Chris Grier: Tyreek Hill 'never asked for a trade with me'

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Dolphins GM Chris Grier: Tyreek Hill 'never asked for a trade with me'

2025-01-08 06:18 Last Updated At：06:21

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins don't appear to have any immediate plans to trade Tyreek Hill, but culture changes could be on the horizon after behind-the-scenes issues such as player tardiness contributed to a disappointing 2024 season.

Hill met with general manager Chris Grier and coach Mike McDaniel separately on Monday, a day after the star receiver indicated he might want out of Miami following a loss to the New York Jets, which punctuated a losing season in which the Dolphins missed the playoffs.

Grier said Hill did not retract his postgame statements saying he enjoyed playing in Miami but “at the end of the day, I’ve got to do what’s best for my career.” But Hill did not ask Grier for a trade, the GM said at his end-of-season news conference Tuesday.

“(They were) productive conversations,” Grier added. “I will keep those between us. The one thing I would say is, in a frustrating season, he was very emotional in a game where we had a chance coming back from 2-6. All of that with him playing through his (wrist) injury just kind of bubbled to a point.”

Hill caught two passes for 20 yards in the season finale and pulled himself out of the game late. He did not play in the fourth quarter. McDaniel said he told Hill that was unacceptable during the pair's hourlong conversation on Monday.

McDaniel also indicated Tuesday that his relationship with Hill is fine.

“I think the competitive spirit of his can represent postgame, especially in a season or a game that nobody likes, it can allude to a relationship being one way,” McDaniel said. “I was very direct with him. He was very honest, and it was great terms that we were discussing.

“We discussed multiple things, including without wavering, that it’s not acceptable to leave a game and won’t be tolerated in the future, and he embraced accountability. I wouldn’t say there’s necessarily anything to fix, but we had to clear the air in a rough and tumultuous situation.”

Hill's actions appear to reflect an overall issue behind the scenes with the Dolphins in 2024, which included instances of players repeatedly showing up late to meetings.

McDaniel, known as a player-friendly coach, said he fined players — some were fined multiple times — but that “wasn't enough,” and he will make changes to his approach.

“I think it’s important that guys know we’re at the point in our team where guys are firmly aware of the expectations,” McDaniel said, “and if your actions continually lead to finable offenses, you’re telling me without words that you don’t want to be here. It's very clear. I think it’s not an indictment necessarily of all, but we are subject to everyone’s actions as a team, and we’ll address them as such."

Teammates need to hold each other to a higher standard next season, including setting expectations for better attendance during optional practices and offseason programs, defensive tackle Zach Sieler said.

“What McDaniel does a great job of is preaching the player locker room,” Sieler said, "and I think it needs to come from us as players and leaders and captains as well as the staff ... We needed to be on our p’s and q’s earlier in the season and earlier in camp, and I think it’s a point of focus this year and we’re going to make sure we don’t mess that up again.”

McDaniel also told the team he needs to be better in their final meeting.

“Mike knows what he needs to do,” linebacker Bradley Chubb said. “He talked to the team, he addressed us about how he’s going to be better as a coach and as a leader of men next year. So he knows exactly what he has to do, and we’re all right there behind him to help move in that same direction.”

Grier said going 8-9 is not Miami's standard, and that he and McDaniel are disappointed with that outcome. He noted the Dolphins had been trending upward the past two seasons after a franchise reset in 2019.

Miami made the postseason in 2022 and 2023, but is still looking for its first playoff victory since 2000. The Dolphins thought this season would be different before injuries contributed to those hopes being dashed.

“I would say our biggest one, no matter what happens, is obviously the quarterback,” Grier said. “When he misses six-and-a-half games, when we miss it by a game getting into the playoffs, to me that’s the difference there.”

Tua Tagovailoa, on the heels of a massive contract extension, missed a career-high six games — four early in the season after being diagnosed with his third concussion in two years. A hip injury sidelined him for the final two games of the regular season.

Tagovailoa has only played one full season, and Grier said the quarterback must prioritize staying on the field.

“To see where he’s come from, from his early time here was impressive,” Grier said. “That being said, he needs to be available. He needs to know how to protect himself. You’re going to get hit at times, it’s always going to happen, but he needs to control what he can control. He understands that.

“Not being available for taking chances and risk is unacceptable to us, and he knows that.”

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The remains of at least 1 Israeli hostage are found in Gaza, army says

2025-01-09 02:23 Last Updated At：02:31

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli soldiers recovered the body of a 53-year-old hostage in an underground tunnel in southern Gaza, the military said Wednesday, and the army was determining if another set of remains belongs to the man's son.

The discovery of Yosef AlZayadni's body comes as Israel and Hamas are considering a ceasefire deal that would free the remaining hostages in Gaza and could halt the fighting. Israel has declared about a third of the 100 hostages dead, but believes as many as half could be.

Yosef and his son Hamzah AlZayadni were thought to still be alive before Wednesday’s announcement, and news about their fate could ramp up pressure on Israel to move forward with a deal.

The military said it found evidence in the tunnel that raised “serious concerns” for the life of Hamzah AlZayadni, 23, suggesting he may have died in captivity.

Yosef AlZayadni and three of his kids were among 250 hostages taken captive after Hamas-led militants stormed out of Gaza into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people.

AlZayadni, who had 19 children, worked at the dairy farm at southern Israel’s Kibbutz Holit for 17 years, said the Hostages Families Forum, a group representing the relatives of captives. AlZayadni's teenage children, Bilal and Aisha, were released along with most of the hostages in a weeklong ceasefire deal in November 2023.

The family are members of the Bedouin community, part of Israel’s Palestinian minority who have Israeli citizenship. The traditionally nomadic community is particularly impoverished in Israel and has suffered from neglect and marginalization. Palestinians make up some 20% of Israel’s 10 million population, and millions more live in Gaza and under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank.

Eight members of Israel’s Bedouin minority were abducted in the October 2023 attacks.

Yosef AlZayadni appeared on a list of 34 hostages shared by a Hamas official with The Associated Press earlier this week who the militant group said were slated for release. Israel said this was a list it had submitted to mediators last July, and that it has received nothing from Hamas.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas is “very close” and he hopes “we can get it over the line” before handing over U.S. diplomacy to President-elect Donald Trump’s administration later this month.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed sorrow at the news of AlZayadni's death, and said in a statement he had “hoped and worked to bring back the four members of the family from Hamas captivity.” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz earlier said the bodies of both Yosef and Hamzah AlZayadni had been recovered, but the military said the identity of some remains were not yet determined.

The Hostages Families Forum said the ceasefire deal being negotiated “comes far too late for Yosef - who was taken alive and should have returned the same way.”

“Every day in captivity poses an immediate mortal danger to the hostages,” the group said in a statement.

Many of the families fear their loved ones' fate is at risk as long as the war in Gaza rages on. Israeli forces are pressing their air and ground war against Hamas, and on Wednesday, Palestinian medics said Israeli airstrikes killed at least five people in the Gaza Strip, including two infants and a woman.

An Associated Press journalist saw four of the bodies in the morgue at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, among them a 4-month-old boy. Israel’s military says it only targets militants, accusing them of hiding among civilians.

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has since killed over 45,800 Palestinians, according to the territory's Health Ministry. It does not say how many were fighters, but says women and children make up over half the fatalities. The military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Israel has destroyed vast areas of the impoverished territory and displaced some 90% of its population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.

The fighting has also spilled over into the broader Middle East, including a war between Israel and Hezbollah now contained by a fragile ceasefire, and direct conflict between Israel and Iran.

Iran-backed rebels in Yemen have targeted shipping in the Red Sea for more than a year and recently ramped up missile attacks on Israel, saying they seek to force an end to the war in Gaza. And on Wednesday, the U.S. military said it carried out a wave of strikes against underground arms facilities of the Houthi rebels.

Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.