Buffalo Bills Player Hurt in Jet Ski Accident, Out for Season

The Buffalo Bills will be without a key player for the 2023 season. According to multiple reports, Bills running back Nyheim Hines suffered what is expected to be a season-ending knee injury away from the team’s facility. Hines injured his knee when he was struck by a jet ski and will require surgery. He was sitting on a stationary jet ski when he was hit, according to reports. Hines suffered no other injuries during the accident and is expected to be ready to go for the 2024 season. 

Hines, 26, was traded to the Bills in November after spending nearly four seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. In his seven games with the Colts, Hines rushed for 36 yards and one touchdown on 18 carries. In his nine games with the Bills, Hines rushed for -3 yards on six carries but was an effective kick returner, scoring two touchdowns on kick returns in the team’s final game of the regular season. 

#Bills RB Nyheim Hines suffered a significant knee injury off-site and is expected to miss the entire 2023 season, sources tell me and @RapSheet.

A tough break for Buffalo and the versatile Hines, who was acquired at the trade deadline last fall. pic.twitter.com/5nMtV6xtAd

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 24, 2023

At the end of last year, Bills GM Brandon Beane explained why Hines didn’t get too many touches at the running back position. “I think it will be easier in an offseason to get in the whole playbook, get the feel,” he said, per ESPN. “You kind of install a lot more things than you do in season. So, yeah, I mean, in a perfect world, would have loved to get him more touches and hopefully that will happen next season.”

Hines was selected by the Colts in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft. His best season was in 2020 when he rushed for 380 yards and three touchdowns for 89 carries while catching 63 passes for 482 yards and four touchdowns. In his five NFL seasons, Hines has rushed for 1,202 yards while posting 1,778 receiving yards and 22 total touchdowns. 

When Hines scored the two touchdowns against the Patriots, it happened after Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed and went into cardiac arrest in the Monday Night Football game against the Cincinnati Bengals. “I’m happy to bring some emotion…something positive to the community,” Hines said to ABC 11 at the time. “We had a lot of bad things happen and this is a great thing, and I think this is bigger than me and you know just being back at home in Garner, you know, I feel like I’ve always been one of the players who has been a spark plug and brings the energy, so I’m happy I could do that.”