More bad news on the injury front for the Buffalo Bills as the team announced today that rookie first round pick, Maxwell Hairston, would begin the season on the injured reserve.
“Hairston will continue to miss time with his right lateral collateral ligament sprain as the team placed him on injured reserve with a designation to return on Tuesday,” wrote ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg. “The cornerback will miss at minimum the first four games of the season but will be eligible to return after that point.”
Even after his nonoptional four week period on the IR, it is unclear whether or not Hairston will be back in playing shape. Head coach Sean McDemott has been very vague as far as the timetable is concerned.
“Hairston was injured early in training camp,… after what was described as a ‘freak trip up’ during drills,” writes CBS Sports’ Steven Taranto. “Hairston’s timetable to return has been unclear, with Bills coach Sean McDermott stating in mid-August that the former All-SEC selection at Kentucky was still ‘a ways away’ from returning to action.”
The injury was suffered over a month ago at this point, with initial reports hypothesizing that he would not miss more than three weeks. Stanford Medicine says the traditional time table on an injury of this sort is 8-12 weeks. This puts the rookie in good shape to make his debut after Week 4.
Cornerback Dane Jackson Cut
You’d think with your first round draft pick starting the season on the injured reserve that it would be all hands on deck in the Buffalo cornerback room. But that was not the case for fifth-year corner Dane Jackson, who was cut by the team on Tuesday.
“Cornerback was another problem area with several injuries… and Jackson was on the chopping block,” wrote SI’s Owen Klein, labeling Jackson as a ‘roster snub.’ “Jackson, a seventh-round pick of the Bills in 2020, was already familiar with Sean McDermott’s defense.”
In total, the team kept a relatively high amount of corners, with seven making the final roster. Christian Benford, Dorian Strong, Tre’Davious White, and perennial cut candidate Ja’Marcus Ingram make up the four traditional cornerbacks on roster. While Taron Johnson and Cam Lewis earn nickel back designations.
Brandon Cordington is the seventh “corner” that has been kept on roster, but his presence is mostly required on special teams.
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