Saints’ Taysom Hill is out for the season with a knee injury

By Larry Holder, Jeff Howe and RJ Kraft

New Orleans Saints do-it-all offensive weapon Taysom Hill is expected to miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury, interim coach Darren Rizzi confirmed during his media release on Monday. Rizzi also said the injury appeared to be a torn ACL but that Hill would likely seek a second opinion. A league source confirmed this The athlete that Hill tore his cruciate ligament.

Hill was carted off the field with the injury late in the fourth quarter of New Orleans’ 21-14 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 13. The Saints had previously won their first two games under Rizzi.

“It’s hard to sit here and say you can replace Taysom,” Rizzi said. “You can’t do that. He is a phenomenal person, player, leader, captain. All these different things. It’s certainly a big loss, but the only thing we can do is for everyone else to step in.”

The 34-year-old tight end/running back/quarterback has been used in a variety of ways by the Saints for years. That year, he rushed for 278 yards and six touchdowns in eight games, averaging 7.1 yards per carry. Hill also added 23 receptions for 187 yards and had four pass attempts. He missed four games earlier this year with a broken rib and a bruised lung.

“I can’t think of a guy who could do all the different things he could in just one game – forget about his career,” Rizzi, who runs special teams in New Orleans, said when discussing Hill’s influence on his coaching career . “A guy who played PP, rushes and blocks punts, returns kicks and I haven’t gotten into the offense yet. He tackled people. He was a kick coverage guy. He’s on our onside kickoff team. He is a backup long snapper. He is our replacement owner.

“It will take multiple people to fill this role because he is so multidimensional.”

The Saints (4-8) are already without wide receivers Chris Olave (concussion) and Rashid Shaheed (knee injury) and are two games behind the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the division lead in the NFC South. Rizzi announced that the 21-day practice window will open for running back Kendre Miller and wide receiver Bub Means to return from injured reserve this week.

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What does the future hold for Hill?

That’s a fair question considering how much punishment he’s taken in the Saints’ offense since he’ll be 35 at the start of next season. His harsh style of play in every phase of his game, whether on offense or special teams, would take a toll on any player, let alone a player in his mid-30s. Hill likely won’t be healthy enough to play at the start of next season, therefore It’s fair to question how effectively he can bounce back from this injury, considering his knee problems stem from college.

Additionally, the Saints are poised for a new head coach next season after the team fired Dennis Allen last month. There is no guarantee that Rizzi and/or offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak will be on the next coaching staff. That means there’s no guarantee the offense will execute on Hill the way the Saints have in recent years.

Hill has been an energizer for so many years, even when Drew Brees was still in the building. That would be a difficult decision for someone who sacrificed so much courage for the team that, despite all his struggles, he made again in 2017. — Larry Holder, senior NFL writer

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(Photo: Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)