Referee Carted Off Field After Non-Contact Injury During Bills-Texans

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A referee was carted off the field after suffering a non-contact injury during Thursday night’s Bills–Texans game in Houston.
Adrian Hill was officiating in the backfield behind the Bills’ offense on a drive in the second half when he appeared to injure himself while running. He lifted his leg up and started hopping while the play stopped.
Texans medical staff members came onto the field to help walk Hill off until the cart arrived for him. Hill was taken into the locker room for further evaluation.
Referee Adrian Hill in the #Bills-#Texans game suffered a non-contact injury and had to be carted off. pic.twitter.com/6zTHla9eN2
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) November 21, 2025
Umpire Roy Ellison replaced Hill as the backfield referee for the remainder of the contest. The umpire position on Thursday night will be eliminated. Ellison will have to work the offensive line by himself and any roughing the passer situations, as Amazon Prime’s Terry McAulay shared on the broadcast.
Officiating crews prepare for possible injury moments like this to happen before the season begins.
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Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.
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