Utility man Taysom Hill returned to the field for the New Orleans Saints for the first time in nearly a month Sunday, then proceeded to have an extremely vintage Taysom Hill performance even as the Saints lost 26-8.
Hill didn’t score, but he finished with 21 receiving yards on two catches, 20 rushing yards on four carries and completed his only pass attempt for three yards — his first pass attempt this season.
But none of that was Hill’s most notable impact on the game.
In the first quarter, the Los Angeles Chargers had to punt deep in their own territory, and Hill was on the Saints’ punt block unit.
The snap was extremely errant, and Hill pursued Chargers punter JK Scott, who was trying to recover the ball as it moved toward the end zone.
By the time Scott was able to pick the ball up, he had both feet in the end zone, and Hill was ready to tackle him. Instead of focusing solely on the tackle though, Hill punched the ball out of Scott’s grasp and it began rolling toward the back of the end zone.
Hassan Haskins of the Chargers and Willie Gay Jr. of the Saints pursued the ball but it got knocked out of the end zone.
All in that one play, Hill was credited with a forced fumble and a tackle for loss.
The game marked the return to action for Hill, who has missed four of New Orleans’ eight games this season because of injury.
First, he sustained a chest injury on Sept. 15 and missed the following week against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Hill returned on Sept. 29 against the Atlanta Falcons but sustained a rib injury in that contest, leading to a three-game absence before his return Sunday.
On the season, Hill has tallied 97 rushing yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns and 23 receiving yards on four receptions in addition to his playmaking on special teams.
New Orleans scored a combined 91 points in two victories the first two weeks of the season but have lost six straight games since — scoring just 94 points in the process — as injuries have piled up, including the loss of starting quarterback Derek Carr on Oct. 7.