NFL referee leaves game after non-contact injury

Injuries have ravaged NFL teams throughout the 2025 season, and on Thursday night the issue struck NFL officials during the Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans game.

Head referee Adrian Hill pulled up lame during a play on a Texans drive in the third quarter. He was seen in the end zone watching a play unfold. As he started to move, Hill grabbed his left leg.

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Referee Adrian Hill on the field during a game between the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants at Soldier Field on Nov. 9, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

Hill was helped off the field and needed to be carted to the locker room. Umpire Roy Ellison took over as the head referee for the rest of the game.

Hill has been an NFL official since 2010, making his debut on Sept. 12, 2010, in a game between the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys as a line judge. He was promoted to a referee in 2019 after Pete Morelli and Walt Coleman retired.

Ellison is a longtime official himself and has some controversy attached to his career in the NFL.

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Buffalo Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard (8) is attended to by medical staff after suffering an unknown injury in the second half of an NFL football game against the Houston Texans Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

In 2018, he had a run-in with Bills defensive lineman Jerry Hughes. The NFL player confronted Ellison in the tunnel following a game between the Bills and Miami Dolphins. Hughes accused Ellison of calling him an expletive. Ellison was reportedly fined one game check for the incident.

Both teams were also dealing with injuries during the game.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen had to check out after being roughed up on a play. Bills wide receiver Khalil Shakir, defensive back Maxwell Hairston and offensive lineman Dion Dawkins were each evaluated for a concussion. Bills linebacker Terrel Bernard suffered an elbow injury and was out for the rest of the game.

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The Texans were playing without quarterback C.J. Stroud as well as safety Jalen Pitre, who were both injured.

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