Saints' Taysom Hill Out for Rest of NFL Season With Knee Injury Diagnosed as Torn ACL

New Orleans Saints versatile offensive weapon Taysom Hill is out for the season after being diagnosed with a torn ACL, Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi announced Monday.

Hill was carted off the field Sunday after taking a hit to his knee during a matchup with the Los Angeles Rams. He did not return to the game.

Adam Schefter of ESPN first reported the injury was season-ending.

Rizzi had provided a limited update after the game, telling reporters that Hill would undergo testing on the injury.

"Hopefully it's not too bad, Rizzi said. "But no real information yet."

Hill was attempting to convert a fourth-down attempt late in the fourth quarter when it appeared he was hit in the knee by the helmet of a Rams' defender, as two players tackled him.

Hill, 34, has done a little bit of everything for the Saints offense this season. Coming into Sunday's game, he had completed 2-of-4 passes for 21 yards and an interception, rushed 34 times for 268 yards and six touchdowns and caught 18 passes for 150 yards.

In Sunday's 21-14 loss, he rushed five times for 10 yards and added five catches for 37 yards, yet again being utilized in multiple ways.

He had arguably the best game of his career in a Week 11 win over the Cleveland Browns and was named the NFC Player of the Week after rushing seven times for 138 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught eight passes for 50 yards and completed a pass for 18 yards.

"The more he's on the field, the more effective we've been," interim head coach Darren Rizzi told reporters this week. "... There's a fine line between getting him too much and not enough, so we've got to do a good job of managing that."

New Orleans safety Tyrann Mathieu, meanwhile, said that Hill is one of the best players he's ever played with during an appearance on Up & Adams this week.

"People say it to me, 'You the best football player I've ever played with,' and I'm like, 'Y'all never played with Taysom Hill though,'" he said.

"He can understand how to play slot receiver and how to play H back and maybe he's the backup quarterback in the red zone," Mathieu continued. "He has about three or four different game plans every week that he has to know and he has to understand, and I think along with his athleticism, that's a really good, talented player. Whoever that player is, a guy that studies well and a guy that puts in work in the weight room, those guys are usually hard to stop in general."

That makes Hill the sort of player that the Saints simply cannot replace. In an already disappointing 4-8 season for the Saints, Hill's injury is another tough development.