What Chiefs expect from Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill — and one thing they’d like to avoid

Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie is doing everything he can to prepare for Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill this week.

That’s even meant pulling up some old video when the former Chiefs receiver was going against cornerback L’Jarius Sneed in practice ... back from three years ago.

“It’s definitely fun, especially knowing that a lot of guys do know him and have relationships with him,” McDuffie told The Star on Wednesday. “It brings definitely this energy around it that is like, ‘Yeah, we get to go play a top dog out here.’”

Hill certainly has earned his status as the NFL’s best wideout. Through eight games, he leads the league in receiving yards (1,014) and touchdowns (eight), while also pacing toward the first 2,000-yard receiving season in NFL history.

But there’s even something extra going on this week, as the vocal Hill faces the team that traded him away two seasons ago.

Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said Tuesday he believed the transaction worked out well for both sides. Miami picked up a dynamic offensive playmaker, while the Chiefs received salary-cap flexibility and used draft resources to build up their defense, which has been a top-5 unit this season.

These Chiefs, however, expect to get the best of Hill as he tries to show his former team what it’s missing.

“Shoot, that man’s a ball of energy,” McDuffie said. “I know during the game he’s probably gonna be all out there talking and doing his thing.”

The subplot will be a significant part of the buildup for Sunday’s 8:30 a.m. Central kickoff between the Chiefs and Dolphins in Frankfurt, Germany.

“I know he’s gonna try to put a show out there,” McDuffie said, “but we’re definitely gonna do the same.”

So how do the Chiefs try to limit Hill, who remains the league’s fastest player?

Start with this: Chiefs coach Andy Reid said some of this will be graded on a curve. A defense might slow Hill down for most of a game, but even then, he’ll still find a way to make an impact.

“He’s a great player,” Reid said. “That’s the bottom line.”

Cornerback Joshua Williams said a lot would come back to fundamentals and tiny details. The Chiefs will need to have correct alignment and play with proper technique when positioning inside or outside of him, ensuring they know where their help is at all times.

Ultimately, however, there also will be some excitement when going up against him.

“You’ve got to embrace the challenge and just play your best brand of football,” Williams said. “Don’t be too starstruck or stuck on one player. Just go out there and play your game.”

McDuffie says the first and most obvious part when going against Hill is respecting his speed. He said his personal goal would be to jam Hill some at the line, while also remaining locked in on his job within the defensive scheme.

“(At all times) we know that he can get the ball, even when the play breaks down. And you’ll see him go across the field and still get open,” McDuffie said. “So we’ll call this an all-out-effort game — just four quarters of all-out effort.”

Chiefs linebacker Drue Tranquill has recent memories of how dangerous Hill can be.

While a member of the Los Angeles Chargers last season, Tranquill was part of a defense that forced a fumble against the Dolphins, only to have Hill scoop it out of the pile and run 57 yards for a touchdown.

“It’s like, ‘Man,’” Tranquill said Wednesday. “You have a play where you force a turnover, and then this guy creates.”

Tranquill said taking good pursuit angles on Hill would be a priority. Even if a defense does that well for a few quarters, it only takes one misstep for him to produce a big gain.

And Hill getting behind the defense is something the Chiefs would like to avoid for many reasons.

One of those should be familiar to Chiefs fans. Hill’s signature celebration, when sprinting by the final defender, is to put up a peace sign (or “Deuces”) on his way to the end zone.

McDuffie knows not only about that, but also how the Dolphins tend to have a fun time celebrating their offensive touchdowns.

“We ain’t never trying to see a receiver dance on us. So I’m not trying to see no deuces, no whatever they got,” McDuffie said with a smile. “I give them credit. They’ve got a lot of touchdown dance moves. Definitely not trying to see them come out with something new that will break the internet again.”

Williams, meanwhile, says he’s also looking to prevent Hill from raising his pointer and middle fingers during Sunday’s game.

“That’s definitely the plan. Hopefully, he’ll be not doing that,” Williams said. “Hopefully we will just contain ... well, we will contain him. And yeah, that’s the plan, man.

“He’s a great player. We know it. But we’re a great defense.”