Fresh off Tyreek Hill’s complaint that rest days were affecting his play, he was back on the practice field Thursday.

Hill caught only three passes on seven targets for 29 yards and a touchdown last weekend in the Miami Dolphins’ victory over San Francisco, then told reporters he needed more of “those valuable reps” with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in practice.

“You just can’t show up on Sunday,” Hill said. It was a reference to veteran rest days coach Mike McDaniel gives some players midweek. Hill, now 30, qualifies as one such player.

Hill has 70 catches for 834 yards and six touchdowns, a pace that would give him 945 yards, far off the 1,799 yards he had last year.

“Any time you have as much success as he’s had in the past few years here, obviously people are going to spend time and try and find ways to make it harder for him and all those different things,” receivers coach Wes Welker said. “I don’t look at it that way. What I see on film, and as far as the execution and doing his job on a play-in, play-out basis, I think has been really good. … If you watch the film, he’s playing at a really high level.”

Welker was asked if, at age 30, Hill has shown any signs of decline, particularly with the sprinter’s speed that’s such a major part of his game.

“I haven’t,” Welker said. “‘Reek is like one of those special athletes that he’ll be in his 40s running fast. I remember playing with Joey Galloway. I think he was like 37 or something like that and he could still run. He could still have quickness at the line. Some of those guys are just different breeds that I don’t necessarily put them on the metric scale of normal type of players.”

Welker cited multiple reasons for the statistical decline. He said defenses are focusing on Hill more than ever in 2024. He mentioned the wrist injury that has been a concern most of the season as well as an ankle problem that hadn’t received public attention until now.

“He’s dealing with his wrist, he’s got an ankle, there’s always stuff through the year,” Welker said.

Welker said allotting practice time has been a balancing act for coaches when it comes to Hill.

“It’s a fine balance of being able to get that (needed work) done but I think it’s definitely something that we can revisit this offseason,” Welker said. “Come up with a plan or whatever, talk it through.”

Tyreek Hill rated No. 1 player in NFL by peers – before season

Before the season, Hill was rated the No. 1 player in the NFL by peers. With that comes attention to stop him, with coverage being “pretty different” this year, Welker said.

“When they’re basically taking two guys and putting them on you, it’s tough,” Welker said. “Just getting open one on one in the league is hard enough. But when you start using two people, that’s when it gets tough.”

Welker said beneficiaries of that strategy are tight end Jonnu Smith and running back De’Von Achane, who are enjoying record-breaking seasons.

Despite scoring one of Miami’s touchdowns against the 49ers, Hill received criticism for passes he either dropped or could have caught, even if in fairness they can’t be classified as a drop.

Minutes after dropping one pass from Tagovailoa, Hill had an opportunity to catch a 9-yard touchdown. In real time, it appeared to be a second drop, but replays showed that cornerback Deommodore Lenoir got a fingertip on the ball.

“It’s one of those things where it got tipped at the last second, so when those things happen it’s like your vision gets changed,” offensive coordinator Frank Smith said.

Welker said when those plays don’t work out, he doesn’t need to be overly critical with Hill.

“He punishes himself with it,” Welker said. “He’s pretty critical of himself. He knows he’s got to make some of those plays.”