After conversations with his surgeon and the rest of his medical team, when Taysom Hill wondered when he could play football again, the initial feedback the New Orleans Saints veteran received was less than encouraging.
Doctors informed Hill that while a return could be possible, there were doubts — question marks, he called them — whether that would realistically happen in 2025. He would be, after all, 35 years old. And Hill not only tore his ACL last December, but he suffered additional damage — four torn ligaments that stabilize the corner of the knee — that required a partial knee reconstruction.
“It was one of those things where you just put your head down, you go to work and see what happens,” Hill said.
So, to be standing in the Saints’ locker room, on the verge of potentially making his season debut Sunday against the New York Giants, Hill was unquestionably proud that his long-awaited return is in sight.
Hill, the do-it-all weapon who is listed on the roster as a quarterback once again, said his knee feels “super stable” after months of rehab and three days of practice this week. Though he has yet to take contact, Hill said he feels healthy — better than he expected a full 10 months after the injury.
“It’s an emotional thing,” said Hill, who was listed as questionable against the Giants. “It's one that you're filled with gratitude. And a lot people that have been really involved with this process. So if you take a step back and you think about all those people and the experiences that you had along the way, it's one that fills me with gratitude.”
Before he attacked rehab, Hill first had to decide if the attempt would be worth it. But the nine-year veteran said coach Kellen Moore and general manager Mickey Loomis let him take his time. And Hill came to the conclusion that he wanted to keep going.
“I love playing football,” he said.
Hill, of course, is no stranger to lengthy recoveries. But doing so at 35, he said, required a different perspective. And this, too, was the first time that the seriousness of Hill’s injury stretched from one season to another. When he suffered a season-ending Lisfranc injury in college, for instance, he was ready by the start of the following year. This year, the Saints determined Hill would need to be placed on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list, causing him to miss the first four games.
Along the way, Hill found solace in the fact that teammate Foster Moreau was also attempting to come back from his own serious knee injury. Hill understood that few people could truly relate to what he was going through — but Moreau was one of them.
“That’s my PUP brother, man,” Moreau said, later adding, “Through this process, It’s grueling. I’m glad I had him around. He’s always got a smile on his face and some love in his heart.”
“I’d never wish that (injury) on him, but I definitely became the benefactor to go through that with him,” Hill said.
The Saints don’t technically have to activate either Moreau or Hill this weekend because NFL rules allow a 21-day window once players on PUP begin practicing. Teams will use that time to ramp up a player’s conditioning, and Moore said Friday that the Saints would take the whole week to measure how the two respond to getting back into football shape.
For Hill, there’s also the matter of his role. Moore didn’t get to experiment with how he’d use Hill in training camp, and so there’s a mystery over how exactly he’ll deploy the former starting quarterback.
In the limited portion of practice open to reporters this week, Hill began the session lined up stretching with the tight ends, threw passes with the rest of the quarterbacks in individual drills and also ran routes on air with the quarterbacks throwing to him.
Even when injured, Hill sat primarily in quarterback meetings this season. This was done in part so the former starter could learn the entire offense, the ins and outs of why concepts were run across the unit, and give him a better understanding of the entire picture.
But where will he play the most? Moore and Hill, as you’d expect, were coy on what to expect.
But Hill is just glad to be in this position, no matter what position he ends up playing.
“I wasn’t ready to walk away,” Hill said.