The Buffalo Bills may have lost their standout rookie cornerback for the start of the playoffs next week.
Corner Maxwell Hairston went down late in the team’s 35-8 win over the New York Jets on Sunday, suffering a leg injury that knocked him out of the game. Hairston was later seen with a walking boot after the game, and the team said on Monday that his status for Sunday’s wild-card round game against the Jacksonville Jaguars is in serious doubt.
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Bills head coach Sean McDermott told reporters on Monday that Hairston is “unlikely” to play against the Jaguars, but the team did not give a more specific timeline on his potential return.
Hairston appeared in 11 games with three starts this season, making 18 total tackles with two interceptions and five passes defensed. He has split time with veteran Tre’Davious White opposite starter Christian Benford.
McDermott explained after the game that Hairston suffered an ankle injury, explaining that the team had no more boundary cornerbacks to put in the game and allow Hairston to join the team’s other starters on the bench.
“Yeah, a little bit of an ankle,” McDermott said, via AtoZ Sports. “You know, really would have preferred not to have one of he or Tre out there, but we were in a situation where we were out of (options) and didn’t have another corner to go to on the active, you know, at that point. I think Dane’s (Jackson) practice squad, so we were out of practice squad ups. We had two already being used, so it’s unfortunate there. We’ll see where it goes here.”
The Bills will likely turn to White in Hairston’s absence. The veteran has seen a bounce-back season after returning to the Bills in the offseason, locking down opposing receivers over the final weeks of the season.
The Bills took a largely conservative approach to the final game, playing quarterback Josh Allen for a single snap that allowed him to maintain his league-best starting streak among quarterbacks. Running back James Cook played for only the opening drive, which was enough to give him the rushing title when Baltimore Ravens back Derrick Henry fell short of surpassing him on Sunday night.
Bills Dealing With Other Injuries
The Bills were also hit with another injury during Sunday’s win over the Jets, losing kicker Matt Prater to a quad injury. Prater had already missed the previous two games and returned to action on Sunday, but was forced out of the game.
As reporter Matt Bove noted, the Bills are not ready to rule out Prater for next weekend’s playoff game, but will be looking at other options during the week.
“Matt Prater suffered ‘a little bit of an injury’ but he’s day to day,” noted the WKBW sports director in a post on X. “The Bills will bring in kickers tomorrow for workouts if Prater can’t play.”
The Bills turned to veteran Michael Badgley after Prater’s injury, but released him last week after he had an extra point blocked. Badgley missed two of his four extra point attempts during two weeks with the Bills.
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