Referee avoids Achilles injury during Bills-Texans TNF game

The Thursday Night Football game between the Houston Texans and the Buffalo Bills witnessed an unusual twist as veteran NFL referee Adrian Hill suffered a non-contact leg injury. He left the game after appearing to injure his left leg while jogging in the end zone during the third quarter.

Fortunately, Hill appears to have avoided serious injury with his Achilles tendon intact, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. He’s going on injured reservethough he could still return after the season, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.

During the incident, Hill began limping after planting his foot following a play in which Bills quarterback Josh Allen was sacked by Texans defensive end Daniel Hunter. Two members of the Houston staff helped him off the field and carried him to the locker room without putting any strain on his leg.

After Hill’s injury, umpire Roy Ellison took over the role of referee for the rest of the game, donning Hill’s white hat. This adjustment left the officiating crew without a designated referee for the rest of the game, as the NFL only keeps reserve officials available for postseason games, not regular season contests.

The referee is responsible for overseeing the offensive line and helping track potential quarterback hits, so Ellison had to cover the entire line by himself for the rest of the contest. in the end, The Texans beat the Bills 23–19improved to 6–5 while Buffalo fell to 7–4.

Hill has considerable experience both on and off the football field. He has been an NFL official since 2010 and was promoted to head referee in 2019. Hill has officiated more than 100 contests and handled the NFC Wild Card assignments in both 2022 and 2023. Prior to joining the NFL, he officiated college football from 2004 to 2009, including A-E-20. Conference, Conference USA and NFL Europe.

Off the field, Hill works full-time as a flight software engineer in the space division at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and was previously recognized as Engineer of the Year by the Baltimore Chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).