What happened to Nyheim Hines? Bills RB suffers devastating injury in major blow to Buffalo

Buffalo Bills running back Nyheim Hines has suffered a devastating knee injury away from the Bills' facility. He's expected to miss the entirety of the 2023-24 NFL season, a significant setback to the Bills' Super Bowl aspirations.

The news is a downer for Hines, the Bills and the National Football League, as the versatile backfield threat was acquired at the trade deadline last fall.

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When will Nyheim Hines return from injury?

Due to the nature of the injury and the importance of knee mobility at his position, Hines is expected to return ahead of the 2024-25 NFL season. There's virtually no chance that he will return to the gridiron this season, and his team will focus more on getting him the treatment he needs.

As a result of Hines' injury, the Bills are left with James Cook, Damien Harris and Latavius Murray in their running back room. The room is decent but could have looked significantly better with Hines fit and ready to go.

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Nyheim Hines NFL career timeline

The Indianapolis Colts drafted Nyheim Hines in the fourth round of the 2018 NFL Draft. The NC State alum was seen as one of the better backfield threats in his Draft class.

He started four games in his rookie season, adding to the Colts' depth at the running back position. Hines put up a stat line of 314 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 85 rush attempts.

The following season was more of the same, even though he put up better stats in fewer games for the Colts. He aided his franchise's efforts with a stat line of 199 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 52 rush attempts.

Nyheim Hines spent two and a half more seasons with the Colts, amassing just over 500 rushing yards and six touchdowns in a mere ten starts. He was traded to the Buffalo Bills on Nov. 1, 2022, in exchange for RB Zack Moss and a sixth-round pick in the 2023 Draft.

The highlight of his time in Buffalo was his two returned kickoffs for touchdowns against the New England Patriots in week 18 of the 2022 season. In the process, he became just the 11th player to do so in an NFL game.