The Bills begin training camp for 2023 on Wednesday, but due to an unexpected off-field injury, they will do so without any of their top reserves. Running back and return specialist Nyheim Hines is expected to miss the entire season after suffering serious but non-life threatening injuries, including a knee in a recent jet ski accident. According to NFL Media.
Tom Pelissero said Hines, 26, was “seated steady on the jet ski” when he was “hit by another rider.” Specifically, Hines An ACL injury occurred He is expected to undergo surgery this week on his left knee, which could send him to the non-football injury list for the rest of the season.
The veteran was acquired by the Bills at last year’s offseason trade deadline and was expected to at least serve as the team’s top kick and punt returner. A change of pace back with the Colts, he would also have provided experience as a secondary pass catcher.
Hines’ absence could be felt more on special teams, where he notably returned 18 Week 18 kickoffs for touchdowns in Buffalo’s first game since Tamar Hamlin’s on-field cardiac arrest. He finished 2022 with a career-best 707 combined return yards. He was acquired in exchange for former Bills backup RB Zack Moss and a conditional late-round draft pick in November.
Running deep again in the meantime doesn’t necessarily hurt the buffalo. Even after Hines reportedly agreed to take a pay cut to stay with the team this offseason, the Bills signed two veteran free agents, Damien Harris and LaTavius Murray, who each have starting experience. Second-year James Cook is expected to have a heavier workload in 2022 after emerging as a third-down option.
He said that, KPRC2 In the wake of Haynes’ injury, Buffalo has reportedly worked on a backfield — Darinton Evans, Kylen Hill and Abram Smith. Evans is a former third-round pick of the Titans out of Appalachian State in 2020 and was cut by the Colts in May. Smith, out of Baylor in 2022, has recently been a top pick among the XFL’s DC defenders, where he rushed for 788 yards and seven touchdowns. As for Hill, the 2021 seventh-rounder out of Mississippi State spent the last two years with the Packers.
