Tyreek Hill on his eventful 18 hours, Holland on his contract and more Dolphins notes

A six-pack of Dolphins notes on a Tuesday:

▪ After an eventful 18 hours in which he was named the NFL’s best player in a vote of his peers, then secured an additional $45 million guaranteed in a restructured contract, receiver Tyreek Hill took a moment to smell the proverbial roses.

“My grandparents flew in, and [they and] me and my wife went and celebrated [at] dinner,” Hill said Tuesday, recapping the memorable stretch that began Friday night, when NFL Network named him the top player in the game, and ended Saturday evening with a celebration of his restructured contract.

“We celebrated the No. 1 deal,... the contract extension,” Hill said. “That’s why I play to reach moments like this. For me to call my shot in 2017 and say I was going to be the number one player says who I am as a player.

“I’m always hungry. I’m always trying to find ways to get better. That’s the only way to be in this league. I thank God. I’m grateful to be in this position.”

He also thanked Mike McDaniel. “I told coach McDaniel, ‘man without you, I would still be getting ranked No. 15 in Kansas City.’

Hill is now slated to make $90 million through 2026, though much of his 2026 salary isn’t guaranteed.

“It’s awesome to be part of this, with [general manager] Chris Grier, Mr. [Stephen] Ross, even Tua [Tagovailoa] helping me become a better player. I won’t ever take any of this for granted.”

Initially, Hill didn’t want to celebrate either winning the NFL Network top 100 player poll (as voted on by players) or the contract restructuring.

“I said this to my family: ‘You all are so used to me winning and getting stuff, you all don’t need to celebrate with me no more. We wake up, it’s like ‘you’re number one, congrats,’ and we just move on. ‘Ah, you got an extension,’ and we move on.”

But he later relented and had a celebratory dinner with his wife and grandparents on Saturday night.

▪ Hill, on his 49-yard touchdown catch on a deep ball from Tagovailoa on Tuesday, beating Falcons cornerback Mike Hughes:

“That was beautiful. We’ve been trying to hit that all camp against our defense. Our defense has been great all camp not giving us the correct look. We came out here and got the look we wanted and executed the play.

“People can no longer say he can’t throw the ball deep. That alone shows his improvement from when I first got here to now. Light years. That’s crazy.”

Hill jumped over a makeshift wall outside the end zone after making the catch.

“One to 10, I would rate that a three,” Hill said of his celebration. “I didn’t hit the landing when I jumped over. I got excited, was feeling the energy.”

Hill said of the joint practice: “It was nice to go against someone else [rather] than hearing Jalen Ramsey chirp all practice. It was a lot of fun today. Offensively, we took a step forward today, whether catching, throwing, blocking… Even if we have stale moments, we have to find our way to dig out of that.”

▪ Safety Jevon Holland said he was “super happy” that Jaylen Waddle and Tagovailoa got lucrative extensions and Hill got more guaranteed money.

So is he next man up with a potential contract extension?

“That would be great,” Holland said. “...I’m not giving you no insider details. So I’m taking it day by day, doing what I can control in my bubble.”

Grier has said the Dolphins want to keep Holland long-term. He can be a free agent after this season. The Dolphins could use the $18 million franchise tag on him next spring, but that would be difficult because Miami will have cap challenges next offseason.

What’s going through Holland’s mind when he sees big money going to teammates?

“What’s going through my mind [is] it’s a lot of money,” he said.

But he said “I’m not pocket watching. I’m happy for them. They’re getting that bread. It’s well deserved. We play this game our entire life. At first, it’s just for fun as a kid. Then you get to high school, and things get serious.

“You go to college, it’s stressful. You finally get to the league, doing everything you can, trying to work your hardest and make all the plays and finally getting that paycheck, it’s like you are really getting paid your dues almost. If you love the football Gods, they show love back to you.”

▪ The Dolphins held opponents to 3.8 yards per carry last season, which was fifth best in the league. But with Christian Wilkins, Raekwon Davis and Jerome Baker gone from that front seven, will this group be as good against the run?

Even with starting linebackers Jordyn Brooks, Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb sidelined, the Dolphins did a good job bottling up the Falcons running game early in practice Tuesday. Both sides had some success as practice moved along.

New starting defensive tackle Calais Campbell said he’s optimistic this defense will play the run effectively this season because “I think we’ve got really good linebackers, really good edge setters. Having [Zach Sieler] is huge; he’s a force in the run game and pass game.

“Up front, we have big strong guys who take pride to stop the run. We [say], ‘They will not run the ball.’ That’s a pledge you have to make.

“[With] the scheme, we put ourselves in position against the run. This defense has had a really good success stopping the run. This defense is special, with Zach Sieler leading the way. He sets the tone.

“Today, I feel like we did a really good job. Of course, they make some plays… [But] I felt we went really hard at them.”

▪ Right tackle Austin Jackson, on why he’s bullish about rookie left tackle Patrick Paul: “He has great feet and feel for playing left tackle. Tall, slender frame and moves well. He will be a pretty legit tackle in this league very soon.”

Paul had a good day on Tuesday and got the better of Falcons defenders in one-on-one drills.

▪ After a slow start to camp, defensive tackle Teair Tart has made plays in the backfield in three consecutive practices. He’s starting to push first-team nose tackle Benito Jones for playing time.

“He has some power to his game,” Dolphins defensive line coach Austin Clark said last week of Tart. “That’s definitely the thing that Teair has. The thing for him, right now, is consistency. Let’s eliminate the flash plays, and let’s be consistent in both the run game and the pass game.”