Law: ‘Getting Your Hands on Him’ Will Be Key in Patriots Slowing Down Hill

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3 months ago at 11:52 am ET

David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Former Patriots defensive back Ty Law is no stranger when it came to drawing an opponents most dangerous receiver.

However, he said on Tuesday that guys like Tyreek Hill were certainly not players he was a fan of having to deal with.

The Dolphins receiver finished Sunday’s game in Los Angeles with a monster day, hauling in 11 receptions for 215 yards and two touchdowns in a win over the Chargers. His speed was on full display, with Hill blowing by defenders as Tua Tagovailoa threw some unbelievable strikes during Miami’s victory.

Clearly, he’s a dangerous player. The Patriots have already faced him a fair amount, going all the way back to his days in Kasas City. He’s been a guy who has had some good battles against players like Jonathan Jones, who has played him pretty tough in recent meetings.

Jones had an interception while covering Hill in their second meeting of 2022. (PHOTO: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports)

Former NFL player Shannon Sharpe talked about Hill recently and called him one of the “scariest guys” he’s seen, and Law agreed, with the former Patriots defensive back talking about what it’s like to go up against someone like Hill during Law’s appearance on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show on Tuesday.

Law said that one of the big keys is getting hands on Hill and slowing him down is key, which is something he feels they’ll need to do against him this weekend.

“Tyreek Hill, with his speed and quickness, I always say match-ups with cornerbacks and receivers, it’s like boxing. It’s match-ups,” explained Law. “I would rather cover guys like Randy Moss, Keyshawn [Johnson], Jerry Rice, Michael Irvin, Eric Moulds, the bigger guys, because we can sit there and wrestle. It’s the little guys like a Tyreek Hill that gets on your nerves.”

“That’s all they want to do is just get out and run. But once you get your hands on him, I won. But the hard part is getting your hands on him. So yes, I can see where Shannon Sharpe is coming from saying he’s one of the scariest guys because he is that fast.”

Hill was tough last season for the Patriots. He finished the first game with 8 catches for 94 yards in the opener in 2022 down in Miami, as well as finishing with 4 catches for 55 yards in their Week 17 outing with Tua Tagovailoa sidelined.

He’ll likely be a difficult match-up again this weekend, so it should be interesting to see how the Patriots approach this one.

(Editor’s note: Portions of the above appeared in this morning’s Patriots news and notes column.)